Crochet Butterflyfish

Chaetodon guentheri

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth14–121 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and May
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Andrew J. Green / Reef Life Survey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Chaetodon guentheri, Günther's butterflyfish or the crochet butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is native to The western Pacific Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Chaetodon guentheri”, 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: 65 records
February: 71 records
March: 90 records
April: 99 records
May: 96 records
June: 71 records
July: 43 records
August: 46 records
September: 27 records
October: 43 records
November: 47 records
December: 41 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 14–121 m · Deepest record: 153.5 m

10–20 m: 8 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 5 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 1 records
120+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 22 records
22–24 °C: 20 records
24–26 °C: 15 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 5 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Joanna Chen, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Joanna Chen, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Crochet Butterflyfish, Gunther's Butterflyfish, Gunthers Butterflyfish, Günther's Butterflyfish, Günther's Coralfish, Yellowrimmed Butterflyfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Günthers Falterfisch
Spanish: Pez Mariposa de Guenther
French: Poisson-papillon de Günther
Japanese: Kokuten-katagi, Kokutenkatagi, コクテンカタギ
Simplified Chinese: 芝麻蝶, 貢氏蝴蝶魚

Other scientific names: Chaetodon guntheri, Chaetodon güntheri, Chaetodon punctulatus

Similar species

Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfish
Chaetodon lunula
Oval Butterflyfish
Chaetodon 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).
594 open-data records from 1970 to 2014.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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