Sunburst butterflyfish

Chaetodon kleinii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–26 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsJune, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

The sunburst butterflyfish, also known as the black-lipped butterflyfish, "blacklip butterflyfish" or Klein's butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. This is an Indo-Pacific species of reef habitats.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sunburst 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: 290 records
February: 265 records
March: 360 records
April: 489 records
May: 395 records
June: 793 records
July: 433 records
August: 583 records
September: 617 records
October: 605 records
November: 355 records
December: 257 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–26 m · Deepest record: 747 m

0–10 m: 569 records
10–20 m: 793 records
20–30 m: 658 records
30–40 m: 51 records
40–50 m: 28 records
50–60 m: 23 records
60–70 m: 16 records
70–80 m: 7 records
80–90 m: 11 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 143 records
26–28 °C: 74 records
28–30 °C: 142 records

Photos

(c) Sockrosma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Gonzalo Romero, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa_James, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sunburst butterflyfish, Blacklip Butterflyfish, Brown Butterflyfish, Klein's Butterfly, Klein's Butterflyfish, Klein’s Butterfly Fish, Klein's Coralfish, sunburst butterflyfish, Whitespotted Butterflyfish, Yellowspot Butterflyfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Weißpunkt-Falterfisch
Spanish: Mariposa de barra penumbre
French: Chétodon de klein, Papillon de Klein, Papillon jaune
Japanese: Mizorechochouo, Mizore-chô-chô-uo, ミゾレチョウチョウウオ
Simplified Chinese: 克氏蝴蝶魚, 珠蝴蝶魚, 珠蝴蝶鱼, 藍頭蝶, 鳳梨蝶

Other scientific names: Anisochaetodon kleinii, Chaetodon bellulus, Chaetodon cingulatus, Chaetodon corallicola, Chaetodon flavescens, Chaetodon kleini, Chaetodon melammystax, Chaetodon melastomus, Chaetodon virescens, Choetodon kleinii, Tetragonoptrus kleini

Similar species

Vagabond butterflyfish
Chaetodon vagabundus
Eastern Triangle Butterflyfish
Chaetodon baronessa
Forcepsfish
Forcipiger flavissimus
Horned Bannerfish
Heniochus varius

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).
4,188 open-data records from 1901 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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