Threadfin butterflyfish

Chaetodon auriga

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–21 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsApril, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) zsispeo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The threadfin butterflyfish is a species of butterflyfish, which are tropical marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Threadfin butterflyfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 870 records
February: 642 records
March: 977 records
April: 1,197 records
May: 882 records
June: 766 records
July: 976 records
August: 1,099 records
September: 1,137 records
October: 1,120 records
November: 767 records
December: 604 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–21 m · Deepest record: 126 m

0–10 m: 2,027 records
10–20 m: 1,094 records
20–30 m: 414 records
30–40 m: 40 records
40–50 m: 10 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 17 records
24–26 °C: 78 records
26–28 °C: 124 records
28–30 °C: 114 records

Photos

(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) nmoorhatch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Gabriel, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Geoff Shuetrim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Zack Abbey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Threadfin butterflyfish, Cross-stripe Butterfly, Diagonal Butterflyfish, Threadfin, Threadfin Butterfly, threadfin butterflyfish, Thread-fin Butterfly-fish, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Threadfin Coralfish, Whip Butterflyfish

Names in 8 more languages

German: Fähnchen-Falterfisch
Spanish: Mariposa de aleta ribeteada, Pez mariposa de hebra
Filipino: Paru-parang dagat
French: Chaetodon cocher, Papillon cocher, Papillon jaune, Poisson-papillon cocher, Poisson-papillon jaune
Japanese: Togechochouo, Toge-chô-chô-uo, トゲチョウチョウウオ
Korean: 가시나비고기
Thai: ปลาผีเสื้อลายไขว้
Simplified Chinese: 丝蝴蝶鱼, 人字蝶, 揚旛蝴蝶魚, 白刺蝶, 絲蝴蝶魚

Other scientific names: Anisochaetodon auriga, Chaetodon lunaris, Chaetodon satifer, Chaetodon sebanus, Chaetodon setifer, Linophora auriga, Pomacanthus filamentosus, Pomacentrus setifer, Sarothrodus auriga, Tetragonoptrus auriga, Tetragonoptrus setifer

Similar species

Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfish
Chaetodon lunula
Oval Butterflyfish
Chaetodon lunulatus
Clown Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ornatissimus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
8,306 open-data records from 1775 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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