Pinstripe Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunulatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1825

Scientific name: Chaetodon lunulatus
Alternative name/s:
Redfin Butterflyfish
Pinstripe Butterflyfish, <i>Chaetodon lunulatus</i> Click to enlarge image
A Pinstripe Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunulatus, at Rapa, southern French Polynesia, September 2014. Image: Ian Skipworth
© Ian Skipworth

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Chaetodon
    Species
    lunulatus
    Family
    Chaetodontidae
    Order
    Perciformes
    Class
    Actinopterygii
    Subphylum
    Vertebrata
    Phylum
    Chordata
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Size Range
    It grows to 15 cm in length.

Introduction

The Pinstripe Butterflyfish can be recognised by its colouration. It occurs in tropical waters of the western Pacific.

Identification

The species can be recognised by its colouration. It has a yellowish tinge with oblique purple-blue stripes. A yellow-edged black bar passes through the eye, and a narrow black line crosses the cheek behind the eye. The red-orange anal fin has a yellow-edged black band along its base.

Distribution

The Pinstripe Butterflyfish is known from the western Pacific. In Australia it occurs from off north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef to southern Queensland.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Feeding and diet

It eats coral polyps.

References

  1. Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & M. Allen. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research. Pp. 250.
  2. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
  3. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557. (as C. trifasciatus).