| Butterflyfishes Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Various examples of butterflyfishes, along with angelfishes | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Acanthuriformes |
| Family: | Chaetodontidae Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Genera | |
|
About 10, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Chaetodontinae (but see text) | |
The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera[2] are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. A number of species pairs occur in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon.
Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish (Pomacanthidae), but unlike these, lack preopercle spines at the gill covers. Some members of the genus Heniochus resemble the Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus) of the monotypic Zanclidae. Among the paraphyletic Perciformes, the former are probably not too distantly related to butterflyfish, whereas the Zanclidae seem far less close.
- ^ Bellwood, D. R.; Klanten, S.; Cowman, P. F.; Pratchett, M. S.; Konow, N.; Van HERWERDEN, L. (2010). "Evolutionary history of the butterflyfishes (f: Chaetodontidae) and the rise of coral feeding fishes". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 23 (2): 335–349. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01904.x. ISSN 1010-061X. PMID 20487131.
- ^ "FAMILY Details for Chaetodontidae - Butterflyfishes". www.fishbase.org.