The Black-backed Butterflyfish or blackback butterfl yfish
Chaetodon melannotus, is a species of butterflyfish (family
Chaetodontidae). It ranges from the Red Sea and East Africa to
Samoa, to southern Japan and throughout Micronesia.This
fish grows up to 18 cm (c.7 in) long, and may live for up to 20
years. When observed at night or when frightened, this species
changes color; the dorsal portion of the body turns black except for
two white patches.
It belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus which might
warrant recognition as a distinct genus. In this group, it appears a
close relative of the Spot-tailed Butterflyfish (C. ocellicaudus)
and somewhat less close to the Yellow-dotted Butterflyfish (C.
selene). These are all of oval shape, silvery with yellow fins and
snout, ascending diagonal stripes, and black markings around the
eyes, on the caudal peduncle, and sometimes on the back. Next
closest seem the Saddle Butterflyfish (C. ephippium) and the Dotted
Butterflyfish (C. semeion), but these are already so distant that
their ancestors must have diverged from those soon after the
Rabdophorus lineage started to diversify.
These oviparous fish are common on staghorn coral thickets,
they are less seen on exposed parts of reefs. Black-backed
butterflyfish are generally found between 4 and 20 m deep, usually
solitary, in pairs during the breeding season. Juveniles are more
commonly found inshore, in pairs or traveling in small groups.It
feeds primarily on the polyps of soft and hard corals. The
Black-backed Butterflyfish is easy to maintain in the aquarium by
the standards of its genus. |
