Butterflyfish Codexery

Pearlscale butterflyfish

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Pearlscale butterflyfish

Bernard E. Picton BernardP · via Wikipedia: Pearlscale butterflyfish · CC BY-SA 4.0

The pearlscale butterflyfish (Chaetodon xanthurus) was described by Bleeker in 1857.[1][2] The body is pearly white with black-edged scales that create a cross-hatched pattern.[3] Males and females of this species are indistinguishable, and the maximum standard length recorded is 15 cm.[3]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderAcanthuriformes
  6. FamilyChaetodontidae
  7. GenusChaetodon
  8. GenusChaetodon
  9. SpeciesChaetodon xanthurus

Named by Bleeker, 1857

Close relatives

Other species of Chaetodon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Pearlscale butterflyfish (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 273367 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2010

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Pearlscale butterflyfish and a personA 0.15 m long pearlscale butterflyfish drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.15 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.15 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Pearlscale butterflyfish

Where the pearlscale butterflyfish has been recorded

Where the pearlscale butterflyfish has been recorded55 mapped locations from 229 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Ryukyu IslandsRyukyu Islands

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (229 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 15 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

These crowned species share a color pattern of dark forward-pointing chevrons on silvery hues, a black-and-white crown spot, and yellow to red hindparts.[4] Other members of this lineage include the Atoll, Eritrean, and Seychelles butterflyfishes.[4] A black crown spot with a white border and vertical black eyestripes are present on the head, which is a darker shade than the body.[3] A white base characterizes the caudal fin, while the posterior sections display an orangey-yellow hue.[3]

The central Indo-Pacific region, specifically from Indonesia and the Philippines extending north to the Ryukyu Islands, contains the reefs where this species lives.[3] A clearly identifiable clade is formed by the "crowned" Chaetodon, though their relationships beyond that group remain uncertain.[5]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Chaetodon xanthurus as an accepted species in the family Chaetodontidae, order Acanthuriformes, class Teleostei.[1] GBIF records 383 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[2] GBIF places the species in order Perciformes, while WoRMS places it in order Acanthuriformes.[2][1]

References

  1. World Register of Marine Species, Chaetodon xanthurus (AphiaID 273367). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  2. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Chaetodon xanthurus (taxon key 2385456). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pearlscale butterflyfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Pearlscale butterflyfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2007, p. 50–68 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Pearlscale butterflyfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2007, p. 50–68; "Molecular phylogeny of Chaetodon (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae) in the Indo-West Pacific: evolution in geminate species pairs and species groups", Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement, 2007, p. 77–86 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pearlscale butterflyfish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Chaetodontidae)

Bank butterflyfish Prognathodes aya, Chelmon marginalis Chelmon marginalis, Chelmon muelleri Chelmon muelleri, Copperband butterflyfish Chelmon rostratus, Forcipiger longirostris Forcipiger longirostris, Hemitaurichthys multispinosus Hemitaurichthys multispinosus

More in Butterflyfish

Pebbled butterflyfishChaetodon pelewensisPeppered butterflyfishPhilippine butterflyfishRaccoon butterflyfishChaetodon rainfordiRedtail butterflyfishSaddle butterflyfishChaetodon sanctaehelenaeScrawled butterflyfishChaetodon smithiSpeckled butterflyfish

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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