Kingdom Animalia Genus Chaetodon Phylum Chordata Rank Species | Family Chaetodontidae Scientific name Chaetodon tinkeri Higher classification Chaetodon Order Perciformes | |
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Similar Butterflyfish, Chaetodon, Millet butterflyfish, Fourspot butterflyfish, Pebbled butterflyfish | ||
The Hawaiian butterflyfish, Chaetodon tinkeri, is a member of the family Chaetodontidae of order Perciformes. It is also known as Tinker's Butterflyfish, after Spencer W. Tinker who discovered it in 1949, trapping them in fish traps at 90 feet (27 m) off Oahu, Hawaii.
Contents
Description
It grows to a maximum length of 15 cm (5.9 in). It swims alone or in pairs and occasionally in small aggregations. Its coloring is divided on the diagonal between black and white. It has gold dorsal and tail fins, and a gold vertical bar across its eyes.
Range and habitat
This fish inhabits Hawaii, Johnston Atoll and the Marshall Islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean. It prefers steep slopes, near black corals at depths of 27–135 m (89–443 ft).
Feeding
The Hawaiian butterflyfish feeds on a variety of planktonic and benthic organisms.
In the aquarium
These fish are somewhat popular in aquaria.