Raccoon butterflyfish

Chaetodon lunula

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–22 m
Water temperature21–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and July
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Rickard Zerpe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The raccoon butterflyfish, also known as the crescent-masked butterflyfish, lunule butterflyfish, halfmoon butterflyfish, moon butterflyfish, raccoon butterfly, raccoon, raccoon coralfish, and redstriped 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.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Raccoon 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: 418 records
February: 521 records
March: 856 records
April: 1,051 records
May: 733 records
June: 709 records
July: 773 records
August: 637 records
September: 522 records
October: 641 records
November: 444 records
December: 390 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–22 m · Deepest record: 150 m

0–10 m: 1,282 records
10–20 m: 1,242 records
20–30 m: 515 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 11 records
24–26 °C: 76 records
26–28 °C: 100 records
28–30 °C: 234 records

Photos

(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) nmoorhatch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Raccoon butterflyfish, Halfmoon Butterflyfish, Moon Butterfly fish, Moon Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterfly, raccoon butterflyfish, Racoon, Racoon Butterflyfish, Racoon Coralfish, Red-striped Butterfly-fish, Redstriped Butterflyfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Mond-Falterfisch, Mondsichel-Falterfisch
Spanish: Mariposa mapache, Pez mariposa mapache
French: Chétodon à croissant, Chétodon raton-laveur, Papillon raton laveur, Poisson-papillon raton laveur
Japanese: Chohan, Chôhan, チョウハン
Korean: 룰나비고기
Simplified Chinese: 新月蝴蝶魚, 新月蝴蝶鱼, 月斑蝴蝶魚, 月眉蝶, 月鯛

Other scientific names: Chaetodon biocellatus, Chaetodon iunula, Chaetodon luluna, Chaetodon lunulatus, Chaetodontops lunula, Pomacentrus lunula, Tetragonoptrus biocellatus, Tetragonoptrus lunula

Similar species

Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
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).
5,577 open-data records from 1901 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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