{{Short description|Species of ray-finned fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Caesioperca lepidoptera (Butterfly perch).jpg | image_caption = | taxon = Caesioperca lepidoptera | authority = (Forster, 1801) <ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author=Bailly, Nicolas |year=2014 |title=''Caesioperca lepidoptera'' (Forster, 1801) |id=280011 |accessdate=2014-02-24|db=}}</ref> | synonyms = *''Anthias richardsonii''<small> Günther, 1869</small> *''Epinephelus lepidopterus''<small> Forster, 1801</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name=WoRMS/> }}
The '''butterfly perch''' ('''''Caesioperca lepidoptera''''') is a marine species of ray-finned fish in the family Anthiadidae. It is found in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the southwestern Pacific Ocean, including the waters around southern Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes known as the '''red perch'''.
==Description== The butterfly perch is a laterally compressed, deep-bodied fish growing to a maximum length of {{convert|47|cm|0|abbr=on}}. It is a pinkish colour and has a large black spot towards the posterior end. Adults have a blue band just behind the eye, blue margins to the fins and small blue spots. The pectoral fins are about as long as the head.<ref name=Museum>{{cite web |url=http://australianmuseum.net.au/Butterfly-Perch-Caesioperca-lepidoptera-Bloch-Schneider-1801/ |title=Butterfly Perch, ''Caesioperca lepidoptera'' (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) |date=2012-09-15 |publisher=Australian Museum |accessdate=2014-02-24}}</ref> This fish is often confused with the closely related barber perch (''Caesioperca rasor'').<ref name=FishBase>{{cite web |url=http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Caesioperca-lepidoptera.html |title= ''Caesioperca lepidoptera'' (Forster, 1801): Butterfly perch |work=FishBase |accessdate=2014-02-24}}</ref> However, the butterfly perch has a deeper body, and males are more pink with a dark blotch rather than band on the side.<ref name=fishes>{{cite web|last1=Bray|first1=Dianne|title=Butterfly Perch, Caesioperca lepidoptera|url=http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4371|website=Fishes of Australia|accessdate=29 September 2014}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The butterfly perch is found in the temperate waters around Australia and New Zealand at depths down to about {{convert|100|m|0|abbr=on}}. In Australia it mainly occurs along the coasts of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. It is a schooling fish and is found on and around coastal reefs where it feeds on plankton.<ref name=Museum/> The butterfly perch shelters in crevices and caves at night.<ref name=fishes />
==Behaviour== The butterfly perch congregates in dense shoals in deep water near reefs.<ref name=FishBase/> It is a demersal fish, feeding on planktonic organisms and such bottom-dwelling invertebrates as sea squirts, pyrosomes, coral polyps, polychaete worms, copepods and shrimps.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bulman, C. |author2=Althaus, F. |author3=He, X. |author4=Bax, N. J. |author5=Williams, A. |year=2001 |title=Diets and trophic guilds of demersal fishes of the south-eastern Australian shelf |journal=Marine and Freshwater Research |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=537–548 |doi=10.1071/MF99152 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
* 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}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2687823}}
Category:Caesioperca Category:Marine fish of New Zealand Category:Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster Category:Fish described in 1801