Butterflyfish Codexery

Chaetodon zanzibarensis

A small, coral-feeding butterflyfish of the western Indian Ocean.

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Chaetodon zanzibarensis

Diego Delso · via Wikipedia: Chaetodon zanzibarensis · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Zanzibar butterflyfish is a small member of its genus, reaching about 12 cm in length.[1] The species is classified under the family Chaetodontidae and is accepted as Chaetodon zanzibarensis Playfair, 1867.[2] This fish exhibits a yellow body coloration, featuring a prominent black mark on its upper side and a dark vertical stripe crossing the eye.[1]

Scientific classification

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

Named by Playfair, 1867

Close relatives

Other species of Chaetodon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Chaetodon zanzibarensis (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 273368 (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: Chaetodon zanzibarensis and a personA 0.12 m long chaetodon zanzibarensis drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.12 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.12 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

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

Where the chaetodon zanzibarensis has been recorded

Where the chaetodon zanzibarensis has been recorded47 mapped locations from 137 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Chagos ArchipelagoChagos Archipelago

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (137 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 4 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

The fish uses its pectoral fins to twist, turn, hover, and dart forward to nip prey before it retracts.[3] Along its body run many subtle, dark, gently curved lines.[1] This fish occurs naturally in the warm marine environments of the western Indian Ocean.[4] Research conducted in the Chagos Archipelago revealed that on reefs with abundant coral, corallivorous butterflyfish like this species were the most abundant in butterflyfish communities.[3]

Specialist coral-eaters such as this species appear to handle minor disruptions more effectively than generalist feeders do.[5]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists the environment as marine and the order as Acanthuriformes.[2] GBIF records the order as Perciformes and holds 158 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[6] Although some individuals are taken for the aquarium trade, no significant other threats are recognized, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies its conservation status as "least concern".[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Chaetodon zanzibarensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: King, Dennis, "Reef Fishes & Corals: East Coast of Southern Africa", Struik, 1996, p. 58; "Chaetodon zanzibarensis Playfair, 1867", FishBase (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. World Register of Marine Species, Chaetodon zanzibarensis (AphiaID 273368). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Chaetodon zanzibarensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Zanzibar butterflyfish (Chaetodon zanzibarensis)", WhatsThatFish (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Chaetodon zanzibarensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Myers, R.F., "Chaetodon zanzibarensis", 2010; Myers, R.F., "Chaetodon zanzibarensis", 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Chaetodon zanzibarensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Specialist corallivores dominate butterflyfish assemblages in coral-dominated reef habitats", Journal of Fish Biology, 2013, p. 1177–1191 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Chaetodon zanzibarensis (taxon key 2385360). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Chaetodon zanzibarensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Myers, R.F., "Chaetodon zanzibarensis", 2010 (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 Chaetodon zanzibarensis (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

Named in this entry

Chaetodon

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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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