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Chaetodon xanthocephalus  Bennett, 1833

Yellowhead butterflyfish
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Chaetodon xanthocephalus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chaetodon xanthocephalus (Yellowhead butterflyfish)
Chaetodon xanthocephalus
Picture by Rusconi, G.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Etymology: Chaetodon: Greek, chaite = hair + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Bennett.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 30 m.   Tropical, preferred ?; - 30°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Indian Ocean: East Africa (Ref. 33390) to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5372)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 21-26; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 21 - 23.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Hybrids with C. ephippium known. Usually solitary (Ref. 48636), but may form loose shoals of 5-6 individuals and usually found around isolated coral heads. Territorial and aggressive to other chaetodonts; omnivorous (Ref. 5503). Oviparous (Ref. 205), monogamous (Ref. 52884). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C., 1986. Chaetodontidae. p. 627-632. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 5372)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02291 (0.01138 - 0.04611), b=3.01 (2.84 - 3.18), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  2.7   ±0.24 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (15 of 100) .