Thompson's butterfly
Hemitaurichthys thompsoni
- Usual depth11–25 m
- Water temperature25–29 °C
- Best monthsMarch
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Hemitaurichthys thompsoni, Thompson's butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Pacific Ocean.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hemitaurichthys thompsoni”, 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: 53 records
- February: 51 records
- March: 191 records
- April: 109 records
- May: 78 records
- June: 80 records
- July: 14 records
- August: 26 records
- September: 9 records
- October: 3 records
- November: 6 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 11–25 m · Deepest record: 30 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C
Photos
(c) Hugh Chan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Martin Purdy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Thompson's butterfly, Thompson's Butterflyfish
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Thompsons Pyramidenfalterfisch
- Spanish
- Pez mariposa de Thompson
- French
- Poisson-papillon de Thompson
- Japanese
- Tompusonchochouo, トンプソンカスミチョウチョウウオ, トンプソンチョウチョウウオ
Similar species
Brushytoothed ButterflyfishHemitaurichthys polylepis
Brown-and-white butterflyfishHemitaurichthys zoster
Threadfin butterflyfishChaetodon auriga
Citron ButterflyChaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch ButterflyfishChaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfishChaetodon kleinii
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).
- 617 open-data records from 2001 to 2022.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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