Decorated Butterflyfish
Chaetodon semeion
- Usual depth1–21 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and July
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The dotted butterflyfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish. a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Dotted 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: 32 records
- February: 55 records
- March: 58 records
- April: 42 records
- May: 21 records
- June: 29 records
- July: 61 records
- August: 52 records
- September: 45 records
- October: 43 records
- November: 27 records
- December: 14 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–21 m · Deepest record: 46 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Solomon Islands Fish ID Project, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Thibaud Aronson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Ro Hill, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Wairambar Rainforest, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Solomon Islands Fish ID Project, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Lin Scott, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Decorated Butterflyfish, Dotted Butterflyfish, Dotted coralfish, Golden Butterflyfish
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Blaustirn-Falterfisch
- Spanish
- Pez Mariposa Manchada
- French
- Chaetodon doré, Poisson-papillon pointillé
- Japanese
- Remonchochouo, Remon-chôhô-uo, レモンチョウチョウウオ
- Simplified Chinese
- 細點蝴蝶魚, 細點蝶, 點綴蝴蝶魚
Other scientific names: Chaetodon decoratus, Chaetodon semion
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).
- 412 open-data records from 1952 to 2018.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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