







| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | ACTINOPTERYGII | PERCIFORMES | CHAETODONTIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Chaetodon guttatissimus | ||||||
| Species Authority: | Bennett, 1833 | ||||||
Common Name/s:
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| Synonym/s: |
Choetodon maculatus Liénard, 1891
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Least Concern ver 3.1 |
| Year Published: | 2010 |
| Assessor/s: | Pyle, R., Myers, R., Craig, M.T. & Pratchett, M. |
| Reviewer/s: | Elfes, C., Polidoro, B., Livingstone, S. & Carpenter, K.E. |
| Contributor/s: | |
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Justification: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population and no apparent major threats. While it feeds on live coral, it did not exhibit major declines in the Seychelles following extensive coral depletion in 1998. |
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| Range Description: | This Indian Ocean species ranges from the coast of East Africa (north of Durban, South Africa) to Christmas Island (Australia), the Andaman Sea coast of western Thailand and parts of Indonesia (Allen 1980, Pyle 2001, G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006). It is found from 1-45 m in depth. |
| Countries: | Native: British Indian Ocean Territory; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Comoros; French Southern Territories (the) (Mozambique Channel Is.); India (Andaman Is., Nicobar Is.); Indonesia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mozambique; Myanmar; Réunion; Seychelles; Somalia; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand |
| FAO Marine Fishing Areas: | Native:
Indian Ocean – eastern; Indian Ocean – western; Pacific – western central
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| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Population: | It is generally common with stable populations (G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006). |
| Population Trend: |
Stable
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| Habitat and Ecology: | Populations are usually found on the coral reef areas of lagoons and seaward reef slopes. Animals occur singly, in pairs, or in small groups. This species is most likely an obligate corallivore and may decline in abundance following a significant decline in coral. |
| Systems: | Marine |
| Major Threat(s): |
This species feeds on live coral, and may therefore decline in abundance following climate-induced coral depletion (Pratchett et al. 2008). However, no major declines were documented for this species in the Seychelles following extensive coral loss (Graham 2007). There appear to be no other major threats to this species. |
| Conservation Actions: |
There appear to be no species-specific conservation measures in place. This species is present within marine protected areas. 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. |
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Allen, G.R. 1980. Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Wiley, New York. Allen, G.R. and Adrim, M. 2003. Coral reef fishes of Indonesia. Zoological Studies 42(1): 1-72. Allen, G.R. and Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 21. Allen, G.R. and Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island Natural History Association, Christmas Island, Australia. Burgess, W.E. 1978. Butterflyfishes of the world. A monograph of the Family Chaetodontidae. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. Cornic, A. 1987. Poissons de l'Ile Maurice. Editions de l'Océan Indien. Stanley Rose Hill, Ile Maurice. Fricke, R. 1999. Fishes of the Mascarene Islands (Réunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez): an annotated checklist, with descriptions of new species. Theses Zoology, Königstein, Germany. Garpe, K.C. and Öhman, M.C. 2003. Coral and fish distribution patterns in Mafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania: fish-habitat interactions. Hydrobiologia 498: 191-211. IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010). Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical reef-fishes of the western Pacific Indonesia and adjacent waters. Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, Indonesia. Letourneur, Y., Chabanet, P., Durville, P., Taquet, M., Teissier, E., Parmentier, M., Quéro, J.-C. and Pothin, K. 2004. An updated checklist of the marine fish fauna of Reunion Island, south-western Indian Ocean. Cybium 28(3): 199-216. Monkolprasit, S., Sontirat, S., Vimollohakarn, S. and Songsirikul, T. 1997. Checklist of Fishes in Thailand. Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, Bangkok, Thailand. Pereira, M.A.M. 2000. Preliminary Checklist of Reef-associated Fishes of Mozambique. MICOA, Maputo. Pratchett, M.S., Munday, P.L., Wilson, S.K., Graham, N.A.J., Cinner, J.E., Bellwood, D.R., Jones, G.P., Polunin, N.V.C. and McClanahan, T.R. 2008. Effects of climate-induced coral bleaching on coral reef fishes - Ecological and economic consequences. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 46: 251-296. Pyle, R. 2001. Chaetodontidae. Butterflyfishes. In: K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds), FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 5. Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae), pp. 3224-3265. FAO, Rome. Randall, J.E. and Anderson, R.C. 1993. Annotated checklist of the epipelagic and shore fishes of the Maldives Islands. Ichthyology Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 59: 1-47. Smith, J.L.B. and Smith, M.M. 1963. The fishes of Seychelles. Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. Sommer, C., Schneider, W. and Poutiers, J.M. 1996. The living marine resources of Somalia. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy. van der Elst, R. 1993. A guide to the common sea fishes of southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Winterbottom, R. and Anderson, R.C. 1997. A revised checklist of the epipelagic and shore fishes of the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean. Ichthyology Bulletin of the Smithsonian Institute 66: 1-28. |
| Citation: | Pyle, R., Myers, R., Craig, M.T. & Pratchett, M. 2010. Chaetodon guttatissimus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2013. |
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