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herringbone butterflyfish

Chaetodon triangulum

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • Usual depth0–14 m
  • Water temperature27–30 °C
  • Best monthsMarch, November, and December
  • How commonRare
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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

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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

  • 0–10 m: 17 records
  • 10–20 m: 3 records
  • 20–30 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 27–30 °C

  • 26–28 °C: 1 records
  • 28–30 °C: 49 records

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

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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