Chaetodon decussatus, Indian vagabond butterflyfish : fisheries, aquarium

Chaetodon decussatus Cuvier, 1829

Indian vagabond butterflyfish
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Chaetodon decussatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chaetodon decussatus (Indian vagabond butterflyfish)
Chaetodon decussatus
Picture by Allen, G.R.

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 author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 30 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical

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

Indo-West Pacific: Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Sea and the westernmost portion of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4858)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 24 - 25; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 20 - 21.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on rich coral reefs, also on rubble and rocky areas. Adults in pairs, juveniles solitary. Closely related to C. vagabundus (Ref. 48636). Home ranging (Ref. 90102). Feeds largely on algae and coral polyps, but captive ones will accept a wide variety of food. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205). Excellent aquarium fish.

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

Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1985. Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Vol. 2. 3rd edit. in English. Mergus Publishers, Melle, Germany. (Ref. 4858)

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 |

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
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Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
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Visual pigments
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Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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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 | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | 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=0.01318 (0.00785 - 0.02215), b=2.88 (2.73 - 3.03), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		2.6   ±0.40 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low vulnerability (22 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 93.9 [48.9, 145.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.799 [0.489, 1.285] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [17.2, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.105 [0.066, 0.165] g/100g; Selenium = 33.3 [18.8, 62.0] μg/100g; VitaminA = 43.2 [12.1, 150.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.54 [1.05, 2.21] mg/100g (wet weight);