
herringbone butterflyfish
Chaetodon triangulum
- Usual depth0–14 m
- Water temperature27–30 °C
- Best monthsMarch, November, and December
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Chaetodon triangulum, the triangle butterflyfish or herringbone butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is native to the tropical Indian Ocean.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Chaetodon triangulum”, 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: 33 records
- February: 33 records
- March: 57 records
- April: 18 records
- May: 24 records
- June: 8 records
- July: 25 records
- August: 18 records
- September: 14 records
- October: 16 records
- November: 38 records
- December: 45 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–14 m · Deepest record: 24 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 27–30 °C
Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) luluchouette, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Egor Dyukarev, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- herringbone butterflyfish, Triangle Butterflyfish, Triangular Butterflyfish
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Triangel-Falterfisch
- Spanish
- Pez Mariposa Triangular
- French
- Chétodon à chevrons, Papillon triangulaire indien, Poisson-papillon triangle
- Thai
- ปลาผีเสื้อหางเหลี่ยมหน้าแดง
Other scientific names: Gonochaetodon triangulum
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).
- 141 open-data records from 1921 to 2011.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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