Blackblotch Butterflyfish

Chaetodon ephippium

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–20 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and July
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The saddle butterflyfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Sri Lanka and the Cocos-Keeling Islands to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals and New South Wales in Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Saddle 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: 322 records
February: 269 records
March: 420 records
April: 440 records
May: 291 records
June: 302 records
July: 441 records
August: 303 records
September: 315 records
October: 415 records
November: 287 records
December: 197 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–20 m · Deepest record: 46 m

0–10 m: 1,072 records
10–20 m: 525 records
20–30 m: 176 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 26 records
26–28 °C: 118 records
28–30 °C: 206 records

Photos

(c) Annika Lindqvist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) karliatje, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blackblotch Butterflyfish, Black-blotched Butterfly-fish, blackclothed butterflyfish, Saddle-back Butterflyfish, Saddleback Butterflyfish, Saddle Butterflyfish, Saddled Butterflyfish, Saddled Coralfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Sattelfleck-Falterfisch
Spanish: Pez Mariposa, Pez Mariposa Ensillada
French: Chaetodon à selle, Papillon à selle noire, Poisson-papillon à selle noire
Japanese: Segurochochouo, Seguro-chô-chô-uo, セグロチョウチョウウオ
Simplified Chinese: 月光蝶, 鞍斑蝴蝶魚, 鞭蝴蝶魚, 鞭蝴蝶鱼

Other scientific names: Chaetodon garnoti, Chaetodon mulsanti, Chaetodon principalis

Similar species

Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
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).
3,145 open-data records from 1902 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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