Chaetodon melannotus, Blackback butterflyfish : fisheries, aquarium

Chaetodon melannotus Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Blackback butterflyfish
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Chaetodon melannotus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chaetodon melannotus (Blackback butterflyfish)
Chaetodon melannotus
Picture by Allen To@114°E Hong Kong Reef Fish Survey

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Etymology: Chaetodon: Greek, chaite = hair + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Bloch & Schneider.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory (Ref. 52884); depth range 2 - 20 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical; 36°N - 36°S, 20°E - 155°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island. Throughout Micronesia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 129178); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 56281)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12 - 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 21; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 16 - 18.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are usually solitary or in pairs in coral-rich areas of reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs to a depth of over 15 m. Juveniles inshore. In pairs or traveling in small groups (Ref. 48636). Adults feed on octocorallian and scleractinian coral polyps. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205). Easy to maintain in the aquarium. Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 30874.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). Monogamous mating is observed as both obligate and social (Ref. 52884).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Myers, R.F., 1991. Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p. (Ref. 1602)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 08 October 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
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Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.02344 (0.01496 - 0.03673), b=3.00 (2.87 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.4   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K = 0.14, tmax = 20).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 57.6 [26.6, 103.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.507 [0.265, 0.916] mg/100g; Protein = 18.7 [17.4, 20.0] %; Omega3 = 0.117 [0.064, 0.201] g/100g; Selenium = 19.7 [9.5, 44.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 149 [36, 604] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.19 [0.76, 1.83] mg/100g (wet weight);