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The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical ocean fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and . A number of occur in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon.
Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish (Pomacanthidae), but unlike these, lack preopercle spines at the . Some members of the genus Heniochus resemble the Moorish idol ( Zanclus cornutus) of the monotypic Zanclidae. Among the paraphyletic Perciformes, the former are probably not too distantly related to butterflyfish, whereas the Zanclidae seem far less close.
/ref> Many have eyespots on their flanks and dark bands across their eyes, not unlike the patterns seen on butterfly wings.
Generally Diurnality and frequenting waters less than deep (though some species descend to , butterflyfish stick to particular home ranges. These are especially territorial, forming pairs and staking claim to a specific coral head. Contrastingly, the zooplankton feeders form large conspecific groups. By night, butterflyfish hide in reef crevices and exhibit markedly different coloration.
Their coloration also makes them popular aquarium fish. However, most species feed on coral polyps and . Balancing the relative populations of prey and predator is complex, leading hobby aquarists to focus on the few generalists and specialist zooplankton feeders.
Butterflyfish are pelagic spawners; that is, they release many buoyant eggs into the water, which become part of the plankton, floating with the currents until hatching. The fry go through a tholichthys stage, wherein the body of the post fish is covered in large, bony plates extending from the head. They lose their bony plates as they mature. Only one other family of fish, the scats (Scatophagidae) express such an armored stage.
Chaetodontidae is classified within the suborder Percoidei by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, but they are placed in an unnamed clade which sits outside the superfamily Percoidea. This clade contains 7 families which appear to have some relationship to Acanthuroidei, Monodactylidae, and Priacanthidae. Other authorities have paced the family in the order Chaetodontiformes alongside the family Leiognathidae. Presently, based on the most recent phylogenetic analyses, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes places it in the large, diverse order Acanthuriformes. Molecular analyses suggest that the Chaetodontidae shared a common ancestor with the Scatophagidae and Pomacanthidae that lived during the Ypresian (54 Ma).
Before DNA sequencing, the taxonomy was confused about whether to treat these as species or subspecies. Also, numerous subgenera have been proposed for splitting out of Chaetodon, and it is becoming clear how to subdivide the genus if that is desired.Fessler & Westneat (2007), Hsu et al. (2007)
The earliest confirmed fossil specimens of Chaetodontidae are an indeterminate larval specimen from Frauenweiler, Germany, two tholichthys specimens from the Menilite Formation of Poland, as well as the extinct species Chaetodon wattsi from Italy; all date to the Early Oligocene. The occurrence of the first confirmed butterflyfish in the Early Oligocene is supported by molecular phylogenies indicating that the family may have arose during the Late Eocene.
Bannerfish/coralfish lineage 1:
Bannerfish/coralfish lineage 2:
The "typical" butterflyfishes may eventually come to contain more genera; see Chaetodon:
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