Diagonal butterflyfish
Chaetodon fasciatus
- Usual depth3–12 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsAugust, October, and November
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: no rights reserved, uploaded by Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
The diagonal butterflyfish, also known as the Red Sea raccoon butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Diagonal butterflyfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 111 records
- February: 69 records
- March: 93 records
- April: 91 records
- May: 60 records
- June: 65 records
- July: 115 records
- August: 140 records
- September: 100 records
- October: 174 records
- November: 139 records
- December: 98 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–12 m · Deepest record: 12 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jonathan Maitrot, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Анна Митрошенкова, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Christian Berg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Diagonal butterflyfish, Striped butterflyfish, diagonal butterflyfish, Diagonal-lined Butterflyfish, Red Sea Butter Flyfish, Red Sea Raccoon Butterflyfish, Red Sea Racoon Butterflyfish, striped butterflyfish
Names in 3 more languages
- German
- Tabak-Falterfisch
- Spanish
- Pez mariposa diagonal, Pez Mariposa Mapache del Mar Rojo
- French
- Papillon rayé, Poisson-papillon raton laveur de mer Rouge
Other scientific names: Chaetodon flavus
Similar species
Threadfin butterflyfishChaetodon auriga
Citron ButterflyChaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch ButterflyfishChaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfishChaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfishChaetodon lunula
Oval ButterflyfishChaetodon lunulatus
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).
- 337 open-data records from 1929 to 2013.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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