Chaetodon rainfordi

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	PERCIFORMES	CHAETODONTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Chaetodon rainfordi

Species Authority:

McCulloch, 1923

Common Name/s:

English

–

Rainford's Butterflyfish, Rainford's Butterflyfish, Rainford's Coralfish

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Near Threatened ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	Myers, R. & Pratchett, M.
Reviewer/s:	Elfes, C., Polidoro, B., Livingstone, S. & Carpenter, K.E.
Contributor/s:
Justification: Chaetodon rainfordi is largely endemic to the Great Barrier Reef and is mainly found on nearshore habitats, where there is considerable ongoing coral loss since the 1950s, mostly due to sedimentation (McCulloch et al. 2003). This species has gone locally extinct following extensive coral loss in the central Great Barrier Reef (Pratchett et al. 2006). It is possible that there have been declines across more than 30% of this species' distribution, but this would need to be confirmed against data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science Long-term Monitoring Program. There are no obvious major threats beyond coral loss. It is listed as Near Threatened based on almost reaching the thresholds for criterion A2 (c) and (a) with localized declines of up to 100% recorded within three generation lengths (18 years).

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species has a restricted range, and is distributed from Papua New Guinea along the Great Barrier Reef and Lord Howe Island (Pyle 2001). Its geographic range size is estimated to be 1.2 million km², from values estimated by Jones et al. (2002) based on projections of distribution maps from Allen et al. (1998).
Countries:	Native: Australia; Papua New Guinea
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Pacific – southwest; Pacific – western central
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	This species is generally common (e.g., mean of 0.5 individuals per 200 m² in northern Great Barrier Reef; Pratchett and Berumen 2008). It has declined significantly on the Great Barrier Reef (Berumen and Pratchett 2006, Pratchett et al. 2006), where there has been coral loss and bleaching. However, bleaching has been patchy across the Great Barrier Reef, and it is unclear to what extent this affects the global population. This species is found on nearshore habitats, where there is considerable ongoing coral loss since the 1950s (MacCulloch et al. 2003). It is possible that there have been declines across more than 30% of this species' distribution, but this would need to be confirmed against data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science Long-term Monitoring Program.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

This species is generally common (e.g., mean of 0.5 individuals per 200 m² in northern Great Barrier Reef; Pratchett and Berumen 2008). It has declined significantly on the Great Barrier Reef (Berumen and Pratchett 2006, Pratchett et al. 2006), where there has been coral loss and bleaching. However, bleaching has been patchy across the Great Barrier Reef, and it is unclear to what extent this affects the global population. This species is found on nearshore habitats, where there is considerable ongoing coral loss since the 1950s (MacCulloch et al. 2003). It is possible that there have been declines across more than 30% of this species' distribution, but this would need to be confirmed against data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science Long-term Monitoring Program.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Inhabits coastal and offshore reefs at depths of 5-20 m. It occurs as solitary individuals or in pairs (Pyle 2001). This species is an obligate corallivore (Pratchett 2005), which is consistent with marked declines in abundance following extensive coral loss (Pratchett et al. 2006). The species (like C. aureofasciatus) recruits in high numbers, which may enhance recovery potential.
Systems:	Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Relies on live coral for food and recruitment, and has declined significantly following climate-induced coral depletion on the Great Barrier Reef (Pratchett et al. 2006). Aside from coral loss and habitat degradation, there are no other major threats to this species.

Major Threat(s):

Relies on live coral for food and recruitment, and has declined significantly following climate-induced coral depletion on the Great Barrier Reef (Pratchett et al. 2006). Aside from coral loss and habitat degradation, there are no other major threats to this species.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no species-specific conservation measures in place. This species is present within marine protected areas (>50% of its distribution is contained within Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park). Monitoring of this species is needed in conjunction with coral monitoring, as well as determination of the degree of co-dependence between this species and corals.

Conservation Actions:

There are no species-specific conservation measures in place. This species is present within marine protected areas (>50% of its distribution is contained within Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park). Monitoring of this species is needed in conjunction with coral monitoring, as well as determination of the degree of co-dependence between this species and corals.

Citation:	Myers, R. & Pratchett, M. 2010. Chaetodon rainfordi. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2013.
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