Cross-stripe ButterflyChaetodon auriga
Facts
23.0 cm
Diagonal Butterflyfish, Threadfin, Threadfin Butterfly, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Threadfin Coralfish, Whip Butterflyfish
Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa (extending to Mossel Bay, South Africa, Ref. 5372) to the Hawaiian, Marquesan, and Ducie islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe and Rapa islands.
source: FishBase
Description
The Threadfin Butterflyfish, Chaetodon auriga, is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Indo-Pacific region from the Red Sea and eastern Africa (south to Mossel Bay, South Africa) to the Hawaiian, Marquesan, and Ducie islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island and Rapa Iti, at depths of between 1 and 35 m.Length is up to 23 cm (9 in). Chaetodon auriga has a neck patch of ascending and a belly patch of descending oblique dark lines. As the name Chaetodon auriga originally refers to the Red Sea population, the spotted population is sometimes separated as subspecies Chaetodon auriga setifer.
It belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus. In this group, it almost certainly is a rather close relative of the Vagabond Butterflyfish (C. vagabundus) and the Indian Vagabond Butterflyfish (C. decussatus). The Threadfin Butterflyfish might be closer to the latter; as C. vagabundus has yielded abnormal DNA sequence data this is hard to say however. The Chaetodon auriga species group shares the characteristic pattern of two areas of ascending and descending oblique lines; species differ conspicuously in hindpart coloration.
source: Wikipedia
