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Australian Wildlife

  Klein's Butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii)





Klein's Butterflyfish | Chaetodon kleinii photo
Klein's Butterflyfish

Image by Jenny Huang - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Klein's Butterflyfish | Chaetodon kleinii photo
Sunburst butterflyfish. Underwater photograph, Pemba island, Tanzania, Africa.

Image by Bernard E. Picton - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







FISH FACTS

Description
Klein's Butterflyfish has a yellowish brown body with a white vertical bars on each side behind the head. There may also b a fainter light bar down the middle of the body. The head is white with a black vertical bar across the eye. Adults have a blue bar above the eye. The pelvic fins are black. There are a number of faint dotted horizontal stripes on the sides. The tail is yellow with a transparent margin.

Size
length to 15cm

Habitat
Deep reef lagoons and channels, seaward reefs. Found singly or in pairs. Depth range 4m to 61m.

Food
soft coral polyps (mainly Sarcophyton tracheliophorum, Litophyton viridis), algae, zooplankton.

Breeding
Oviparous. Forms pairs during breeding.

Range
Klein's Butterflyfish is found in tropical marine waters of the Indo-Pacific. In Australia it is found from central to north-western coast of Western Australia and on the east from the northern Great Barrier Reef to the south coast of New South Wales.



Classification
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Perciformes
Family:Chaetodontidae
Genus:Chaetodon
Species:kleinii
Common Name:Klein's Butterflyfish

Relatives in same Genus
  Threadfin Butterflyfish (C. auriga)
  Eastern Triangular Butterflyfish (C. baronessa)
  Bennett's Butterflyfish (C. bennetti)
  Speckled Butterflyfish (C. citrinellus)
  Saddled Butterflyfish (C. ephippium)
  Dusky Butterflyfish (C. flavirostris)
  Redfin Butterflyfish (C. lunulatus)
  Eight-banded Butterflyfish (C. octofasciatus)
  Ornate Butterflyfish (C. ornatissimus)
  Latticed Butterflyfish (C. rafflesii)
  Dotted Butterflyfish (C. semeion)
  Oval-spot Butterflyfish (C. speculum)
  Chevroned Butterflyfish (C. trifascialis)
  Double-saddle Butterflyfish (C. ulietensis)
  Teardrop Butterflyfish (C. unimaculatus)
  Vagabond Butterflyfish (C. vagabundus)