Guide to the Coastal Resources of Guam: Vol. 1
THE FISHES

Steven S. AMESBURY                   Robert F. MYERS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ZOOGEOGRAPHY

ECOLOGY

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

VALUE OF FISH RESOURCES

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

DANGEROUS MARINE FISHES

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SPECIES INDEX

CHAMORRO NAMES

CHAETODONTIDAE (BUTTERFLYFISHES)

          Butterflyfishes are among the most conspicuous and colorful of all reef fishes.  Most scientists agree that their color patterns play an important role in aiding them in recognizing members of their own species for reproduction and territorial defense.  Some believe their colors serve to advertize the fact to would-be predators that they are bony and not worth the trouble to eat, yet there are many predators that readily eat them.  Most butterflyfishes are carnivores; a few are omnivores.  Some of the carnivores feed primarily on soft corals, small benthic invertebrates, or even on zooplankton.  Most occur singly or in pairs and are diurnally active, home-ranging fishes.  By day, they patrol a specific portion of reef in search of food, and at night they sleep hidden among corals or rocks, often exhibiting a color pattern somewhat different from that of the day.  A few of the coral polyp feeders are territorial, remaining in the vicinity of a home coral head.  The zooplankton feeders form large aggregations that may extend several meters above the reef.  Butterflyfishes spawn in the water column, producing tiny, buoyant eggs that are dispersed by the currents.  All but one of the 29 species known from Guam occur at depths accessible to scuba divers.

Chaetodon auriga Forsskål
Chaetodon bennetti Cuvier
Chaetodon citrinellus Cuvier
Chaetodon ephippium Cuvier
Chaetodon flavocoronatus Myers
Chaetodon kleinii Bloch
Chaetodon lineolatus Cuvier
Chaetodon lunula (Lacepède)
Chaetodon melannotus Bloch
Chaetodon mertensii Cuvier
Chaetodon ornatissimus Cuvier
Chaetodon punctatofasciatus Cuvier
Chaetodon quadrimaculatus Gray
Chaetodon reticulatus Cuvier
Chaetodon lunulatus Quoy & Gaimard
Chaetodon ulietensis Cuvier
Chaetodon unimaculatus Bloch
Chaetodon vagabundus Linnaeus
Chaetodon trifascialis (Quoy & Gaimard)
Hemitaurichthys polylepis (Bleeker)
Heniochus acuminatus (Linnaeus)
Heniochus chrysostomus Cuvier
Heniochus monoceros Cuvier
Heniochus varius (Cuvier)
Forcipiger flavissimus Jordan & McGregor

Previous Page