Chevron butterflyfish

Chaetodon trifascialis

Fish
IUCN: Near threatened

Usual depth4–21 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsJanuary, April, and September
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Francois Libert, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The chevron butterflyfish, also known as chevroned butterflyfish, triangulate butterflyfish or V-lined butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Chevron 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: 571 records
February: 386 records
March: 494 records
April: 596 records
May: 338 records
June: 425 records
July: 451 records
August: 446 records
September: 800 records
October: 453 records
November: 347 records
December: 199 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–21 m · Deepest record: 520 m

0–10 m: 1,253 records
10–20 m: 1,057 records
20–30 m: 292 records
30–40 m: 6 records
40–50 m: 8 records
50–60 m: 5 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 97 records
26–28 °C: 115 records
28–30 °C: 131 records

Photos

(c) zsispeo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Roger Rittmaster · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Chevron butterflyfish, Acropora Butterfly, chevron butterflyfish, Chevroned Butterflyfish, Chevroned Butterflyfish, Chevron butterflyfish, Rightangle Butterflyfish, rightangled butterflyfish, Right-angled Butterfly-fish, Triangulate Butterflyfish, V-lined Butterflyfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Sparren-Falterfisch
Spanish: Pez mariposa Chevrón
French: Chaetodon à chevrons, Papillon à chevrons, Poisson-papillon à chevrons
Japanese: Yarikatagi, ヤリカタギ
Thai: ปลาผีเสื้อก้างปลา
Simplified Chinese: 三紋蝴蝶魚, 三纹蝴蝶鱼, 巛紋蝴蝶魚, 川紋蝴蝶魚, 排骨蝶, 箭蝶

Other scientific names: Chaetodon bifascialis, Chaetodon leachii, Chaetodon striangulus, Chaetodon strigangulus, Chaetodon tearlachi, Chaetodon triangularis, Eteira taunayi, Megapotodon trifascialis, Megaprotodon strigangulus, Megaprotodon trifascialis

Similar species

Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfish
Chaetodon lunula
Oval Butterflyfish
Chaetodon 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).
5,047 open-data records from 1906 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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