Meyer's Butterflyfish (juvenile)

Chaetodon meyeri is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae).

Description

Growing to a maximum length of 20 cm (nearly 8 in), its body is whitish or blue-white with curved to oblique black bands on the sides. A yellow-edged black bar runs through the eye, another is on the snout.

It is a close relative of the Mailed Butterflyfish (C. reticulatus) and the Ornate Butterflyfish (C. ornatissimus). Together they make up the subgenus called "Citharoedus", but as this name had already been used for a mollusc genus when it was given to the fish, it is not valid. They are probably quite close to the subgenus Corallochaetodon which contains for example the Melon Butterflyfish (C. trifasciatus). Like these, they might be separated in Megaprotodon if the genus Chaetodon is split up.

Distribution

It is found in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean from East Africa to the Line Islands; north to the Ryukyu Islands; south to the Great Barrier Reef; including Micronesia and the Galapagos Islands.

Habitat

The Scrawled Butterflyfish is found at depths between 2 and 25 m in coral-rich areas of clear seaward and lagoon reefs. They feed exclusively on coral polyps.