Vagabond butterflyfish

Chaetodon vagabundus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–14 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsApril, July, and October
How commonCommon

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

About this species

The vagabond butterflyfish, also known as the crisscross butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Vagabond 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: 319 records
February: 321 records
March: 444 records
April: 510 records
May: 358 records
June: 494 records
July: 541 records
August: 400 records
September: 466 records
October: 620 records
November: 363 records
December: 327 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–14 m · Deepest record: 747 m

0–10 m: 1,019 records
10–20 m: 338 records
20–30 m: 51 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 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: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 7 records
26–28 °C: 90 records
28–30 °C: 134 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Shelomi Doyle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Vagabond butterflyfish, Butterfly fish, crisscross butterflyfish, Criss-cross Butterfly-fish, Criss-cross Butterflyfish, vagabond butterflyfish, Vagabond Butterfly-fish, Vagabond Butterflyfish, Vagabond Coralfish, Vagabond's Butterflyfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Vagabund-Falterfisch
Spanish: Pez Mariposa Vagabunda, Pez mariposa vagabundo
French: Chaetodon vagabond, Chétodon à vagabond, Papillon vagabond, Poisson papillon vagabond, Poisson-papillon vagabond
Japanese: Furaichochouo, Fûrai-chôchô-uo, フウライチョウチョウウオ
Korean: 황줄나비고기
Thai: ปลาผีเสื้อลายทแยง
Simplified Chinese: 假人字蝶, 斜紋蝴蝶魚, 斜纹蝴蝶鱼, 飄浮蝴蝶魚

Other scientific names: Anisochaetodon vagabundus, Chaetodon mesogallicus, Chaetodon nesogallicus, Chaetodon vugabundus, Tetragonoptrus nesogallicus, Tetragonoptrus vagabundus

Similar species

Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
Eastern Triangle Butterflyfish
Chaetodon baronessa
Forcepsfish
Forcipiger flavissimus
Horned Bannerfish
Heniochus varius

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).
4,084 open-data records from 1902 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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