Animal Species:Klein's Butterflyfish, Chaetodon kleinii Bloch, 1790

Klein's Butterflyfish has a dusky yellow body with a white bar on the side. Klein's Butterflyfish is found widely in tropical marine waters throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Klein's Butterflyfish at Horseshoe Reef

Klein's Butterflyfish at Horseshoe Reef
Erik Schlögl © Erik Schlögl

Alternative Name/s

Brown Butterflyfish, White-spotted Butterflyfish

Identification

Klein's Butterflyfish has a dusky yellow body with a white bar on the side. Its head is white and the pelvic fins are black. A black bar runs through the eye. In adults, this bar is blue above the eye.

Size range

The species grows to 14 cm in length.

Distribution

Klein's Butterflyfish is found widely in tropical marine waters throughout the Indo-Pacific. In Australia it is known from central to north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef to the south coast of New South Wales.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Chaetodon kleinii

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Klein's Butterflyfish specimens in the Australian Museum.

What does this mean?

Classification

Species:
kleinii
Genus:
Chaetodon
Family:
Chaetodontidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & M. Allen. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research. Pp. 250.
  3. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
  4. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
  5. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
  6. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
  7. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags Fishes, Ichthyology, Klein's Butterflyfish, Chaetodon kleinii, Chaetodontidae, white, yellow, grey, blue, black, 'normal fish', 10 cm - 30 cm, stripes or bands, coral reef, marine, adult,