Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
- Usual depth2–14 m
- Water temperature21–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, May, and July
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: (c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Chaetodon citrinellus is a species of butterflyfish. It is commonly known as the speckled butterflyfish or citron butterflyfish. It is found in the Indo-Pacific: the Red Sea, East Africa to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan and south to Australia.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Speckled 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: 191 records
- February: 289 records
- March: 507 records
- April: 694 records
- May: 534 records
- June: 447 records
- July: 524 records
- August: 430 records
- September: 501 records
- October: 456 records
- November: 299 records
- December: 179 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–14 m · Deepest record: 41.3 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C
Photos
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Citron Butterfly, Citron Butterflyfish, Citron coralfish, Lemon Butterflyfish, Speckled Butterfly-fish, Speckled Butterflyfish
Names in 7 more languages
- German
- Zitronen-Falterfisch
- Spanish
- Pez mariposa moteado
- Filipino
- Paru-parang dagat
- French
- Chaetodon tacheté, Chétodon citron, Poisson-papillon citron
- Japanese
- Gomachochouo, Goma-chô-chô-uo, ゴマチョウチョウウオ
- Thai
- ปลาผีเสื้อลายจุด
- Simplified Chinese
- 密点蝴蝶鱼, 密點蝴蝶魚, 胡麻斑蝴蝶魚, 胡麻蝶
Other scientific names: Chaetodon nigripes
Similar species
Threadfin butterflyfishChaetodon auriga
Blackblotch ButterflyfishChaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfishChaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfishChaetodon lunula
Oval ButterflyfishChaetodon lunulatus
Clown ButterflyfishChaetodon 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).
- 5,744 open-data records from 1902 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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