Butterflyfish Codexery

Spotband butterflyfish

A western Pacific butterflyfish with vertical bands and orange caudal peduncle.

Last updated

Spotband butterflyfish

Bernard E. Picton BernardP · via Wikipedia: Spotband butterflyfish · CC BY-SA 4.0

The spotband butterflyfish is a marine species in the family Chaetodontidae, accepted as Chaetodon punctatofasciatus Cuvier, 1831.[1][2] It grows to a maximum length of 12 cm.[3]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderAcanthuriformes
  6. FamilyChaetodontidae
  7. GenusChaetodon
  8. GenusChaetodon
  9. SpeciesChaetodon punctatofasciatus

Named by G. Cuvier, 1831

Close relatives

Other species of Chaetodon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Spotband butterflyfish (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 273355 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2010

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Spotband butterflyfish and a personA 0.12 m long spotband butterflyfish drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.12 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.12 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Spotband butterflyfish

Where the spotband butterflyfish has been recorded

Where the spotband butterflyfish has been recorded132 mapped locations from 2,947 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Christmas Island, Ryukyu Islands, Rowley ShoalsChristmas IslandRyukyu IslandsRowley Shoals

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (2,947 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 15 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 3 isolated far-off records not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Its range extends north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to the Rowley Shoals and the northern Great Barrier Reef.[3] It also occurs throughout Micronesia.[3] It forms a close-knit group with the Peppered butterflyfish, Pebbled butterflyfish, and Sunset butterflyfish.[4] The spotband butterflyfish is replaced by its close relative the Peppered butterflyfish in the Indian Ocean.[3]

The two species are sympatric from Christmas Island to Bali.[3]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Chaetodon punctatofasciatus as an accepted species in the order Acanthuriformes.[1] GBIF records 3,254 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[2] Georges Cuvier, a French anatomist, provided the first formal description of this species in 1831.[4]

References

  1. World Register of Marine Species, Chaetodon punctatofasciatus (AphiaID 273355). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  2. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Chaetodon punctatofasciatus (taxon key 2385349). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Spotband butterflyfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Spotband butterflyfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2007, p. 50–68; "Molecular phylogeny of Chaetodon (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae) in the Indo-West Pacific: evolution in geminate species pairs and species groups", Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement, 2007, p. 77–86; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Spotband butterflyfish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Chaetodontidae)

Bank butterflyfish Prognathodes ayaChelmon marginalis Chelmon marginalisChelmon muelleri Chelmon muelleriCopperband butterflyfish Chelmon rostratusForcipiger longirostris Forcipiger longirostrisHemitaurichthys multispinosus Hemitaurichthys multispinosus

Named in this entry

Chaetodon

More in Butterflyfish

Spot-nape butterflyfishSpot-tail butterflyfishSunburst butterflyfishTeardrop butterflyfishThreadfin butterflyfishChaetodon triangulumChaetodon ulietensisVagabond butterflyfishWest Australian butterflyfishChaetodon wiebeliYellow teardrop butterflyfishYellow-dotted butterflyfish

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. Who first scientifically described the Spotband butterflyfish?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Georges Cuvier.

2. What is the scientific name of the Spotband butterflyfish?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Chaetodon punctatofasciatus.

3. In what year was Spotband butterflyfish first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1831.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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