【生物快讯】黑尾蝶和橙面蝶有趣的生态转变

一些漂亮的海水鱼可以作为宠物饲养在珊瑚缸中，但是一些品种对于珊瑚缸来说是绝对不能触碰的“禁果”，比如我们熟知的鲽鱼属就是其中一类，在野外，这种鱼仅以珊瑚为食。

不过，随着最近的研究表明，我们对鲽鱼的认知，无论是海缸中还是野外，看起来需要改变了。几年前，SPS Crownfish公司的一段视频展示了黑鳍鲽鱼在他们的驯养下吃水族饲料。另外Notable Dutch 公司的水族作家Tanne Hoffe也设法在珊瑚缸中饲养橙面蝶，但是他有记录证明鱼在贪婪的吃他准备好的食物。

随着对饲养鲽鱼有兴趣的玩家正在增多，上个月coral杂志的编辑Matt Pedersen也开始了他对饲养鲽鱼经验的一系列报道，但是，对这些鱼的认知，最令人侧目的发现不是来自于我们的珊瑚缸，而是在野外发现了这些鱼出现在本不该出现的地方。

苏伊士运河是连接地中海和红海的人造运河，使所谓的“小规模移民”成为可能。这两块水域——以及它们的海洋生物——被陆地分隔了大约500万年，但是最近二十年来，在以色列、贝鲁特和埃及北部海岸附近发现并捕捉到了红海的鱼类。

我们注意到珊瑚缸流行的神仙鱼也在地中海海域被发现，但是最瞩目的就是我们最近才发现两种吃珊瑚的鱼也在地中海海域被发现，包括黑尾蝶 Chaetodon austriacus与橙面蝶Chaetodon larvatus。

这令我们大吃一惊，因为这里没有任何造礁珊瑚，像A属和M属珊瑚，这些珊瑚是这两类鱼的食物，并且很确定广阔的珊瑚礁环境也与这些鱼无关。这意味着，以珊瑚为食的这两种鱼类入侵地中海海域后，在新的生态环境下莫名其妙改变了它们的食性，或许有一天，我们能真正发现适合的食物来喂养这些迷人的鲽鱼。

原文：

Saltwater fish are among some of the most colorful creatures we can keep as pets but as many species as we have access to, one notable group is a sort of ‘forbidden fruit’ when it comes to living in aquariums. We’re talking about the s mall group of Chaetodon butterflyfish known as ‘obligate corallivores’ because – as far as we know – in the wild they only eat live coral tissue.

However our understanding of these butterflyfish species’ needs seems to be changing somewhat with a few recent developments both in aquaria, and in the wild. A few years back SPS Crownfish showed video of the Arabian Butterflyfish eating aquarium foods under their care. Also, Notable Dutch aquarium Author Tanne Hoffe has managed to keep the orangeface butterflyfish, Chaetodon larvatus in captivity in his reef tank, but he’s got the documentation to show it greedily eats prepared food.

Interest in this group is definitely picking up and just last month CORAL magazine editor Matt Pedersen kicked off a series detailing his experience with coral-eating butterflyfish. But the most head-turning development in our understanding of these fish comes not from the aquarium world, but from a different place where these fish should not be found.

The Suez Cana l is a man-made channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, enabling what is known as ‘Lessepsian Migration‘. These two bodies of water – and their marine life – have been seperated by landmasses for around five million years but the last couple decades have seen Red Sea fish documented and collected around Israel, Beirut, and the northern coast of Egypt.

We’ve noted the sightings of popular aquarium angelfish being found in the Mediterranean but really paid attention when we were recently made aware that not one but two species of obligate corallivores were documented in the Mediterranean. The two species include the Blacktail Butterflyfish, Chaetodon austriacus, and the Orangeface Butterflyfish, Chaetodon larvatus.

This is quite surprising because there are no reef building stony corals like Acropora and Montipora which have been thought to be these two species’ primary diet, and definitely not the expansive reef environments these fish are associated with. This means that these two ‘impossible’ to keep coral eaters have somehow managed to shift their diets to eating something else in the new Mediterranean ecosystem they are invading, raising hopes just a little that one day we can truly understand a suitable food substitute for this tempting group of butterflyfish.  

本文来源：中 国 ReefBuilders，ReefBuildersCM，如侵删。

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