Butterfly perch
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 Photo by Ian Skipworth
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| Caesioperca lepidoptera (Forster, 1801) |
The butterfly perch, Caesioperca lepidoptera, a sea bass of the subfamily Anthiinae of the family Serranidae , is found in the eastern Indian Ocean, and south west Pacific Ocean including southern Australia, and New Zealand. Its length is between 15 and 30 cm.
The butterfly perch is a deep-bodied species with a slightly pointed snout. Both dorsal fins are long and low with no gap between them, and the tail is lightly forked.
Colouration is a pale fawn-pink, tinged with bright blue on the head and fins, and a conspicuous black spot in the middle of each flank. The entire body and fins are covered with small close-set dark spots, only noticeable on close inspection.
Food consists of a wide range of mid-water planktonic animals, and this species forms loose feeding schools over rocky reefs.
[edit] References
- Caesioperca lepidoptera (TSN 643217). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 18 April 2006.
- "Caesioperca lepidoptera". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
