Scrawled butterflyfish (Chaetodon meyeri)

Classification (WoRMS)

Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Teleostei · Order: Acanthuriformes · Family: Chaetodontidae · Genus: Chaetodon.

Accepted name: Chaetodon meyeri · Authority: Bloch & Schneider, 1801 · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 218752.

Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Holacanthus flavoniger Lacepède, 1802.

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218752 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Biology and life history (FishBase)

Measured values published by FishBase for Chaetodon meyeri. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.

Maximum length: 20 cm · Depth range: 2–25 m · Habitat zone: reef-associated · Body shape: short and / or deep · Vulnerability index: 10 of 100 · Fishery importance: minor commercial · Aquarium trade: commercial.

FishBase notes: Occur in coral rich areas of clear lagoon and seaward reefs, and feed exclusively on coral polyps (Ref. 9710). Juvenile usually solitary among branching corals, adults usually paired and home-ranging (Ref. 9710, 48636). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).

Source: FishBase species summary (SpecCode 5568) — https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Chaetodon-meyeri.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)

2,243 georeferenced occurrence records for Chaetodon meyeri are published through GBIF from 45 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 250 distinct locations from a sample of 2,243 records, omitting 23 inland records that carry an institution's coordinates rather than a collection site; it shows where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.

Most records by country or area: United States Minor Outlying Islands (523); Seychelles (214); Indonesia (200); Maldives (172); Kiribati (147).

The full country table, WoRMS marine regions and the sampling notes are on this species' Distribution page.

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2385494) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2385494&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218752 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Conservation status (IUCN Red List)

The IUCN Red List assesses Chaetodon meyeri Bloch & Schneider, 1801 as Least Concern (code LC). No trend, population estimate or threat analysis is given here, because none is available from this source without the Red List API; follow the source link for the full assessment, including its date.

Source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (taxon 165638) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/165638/0; GBIF IUCN Red List category endpoint (taxonKey 2385494) — https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/2385494/iucnRedListCategory. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

The scrawled butterflyfish has a whitish or bluish-white body that is marked with curved and diagonal black bars on its flanks, on the curved bars the curve is towards the rear. A yellow edged black bar runs through the eye and a similar bar is on the snout, around the mouth. This species has 12–13 spines and 23–25 soft rays in its dorsal fin and 3 spines and 18–20 soft rays in its anal fin. It attains a maximum total length of 20 cm.

The scrawled butterflyfish has an Indo-Pacific distribution. It is found along the eastern coast of Africa from Somalia to Durban across the Indian and Pacific Oceans as far east as the Line Islands and Hawaii. Its range extends north to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia and Tonga. Vagrants have been recorded in the eastern Pacific Ocean at the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and the Revillagigedo Islands of Mexico.

The scrawled butterflyfish is found at depths between 2 and 25 m where it inhabits area rich in coral in clear lagoons and seaward reefs. The juveniles are normally solitary and live among branching corals while the adults typically live as pairs and have a home range. They are oviparous and breed in pairs. It is an obligate corrallivore but it is thought that they feed on the mucus of the coral rather than the actual coral tissue.

The scrawled butterflyfish was first formally described in 1801 by the German naturalists Marcus Elieser Bloch((1723–1799) and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (1750–1822) with the type locality given as Ambon Island in Indonesia. The identity of the person that the specific name honours is not given by Black and Schneider but the type specimen was in the collection of the Museo Meyeri Lugduni Batavorum or Meyer's Museum in Leiden, Netherlands. This Meyer could have been Johan Frederik Meijer, who was a "bookkeeper" at Ambon Island and who had kept a small natural-history cabinet in the Netherlands during the 1700s.

It is a close relative of the mailed butterflyfish (C. reticulatus) and the ornate butterflyfish (C. ornatissimus). Together they make up the subgenus called "Citharoedus", but as this name had already been used for a mollusc genus when it was given to the fish, it is not valid. They are probably quite close to the subgenus Corallochaetodon which contains for example the melon butterflyfish (C. trifasciatus). Like these, they might be separated in Megaprotodon if the genus Chaetodon is split up.

Source: Wikipedia: Scrawled butterflyfish — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrawled_butterflyfish (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.