Find a Fish
Rainford's Butterflyfish
Chaetodon rainfordi McCulloch, 1923
A Rainford's Butterflyfish at a depth of 10m Ribbon Reef #10, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, December 2001. View larger image.
A Rainford's Butterflyfish at a depth of 15m Wheeler Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, November 2001. View larger image.
Rainford's Butterflyfish can be recognised by its colouration.
The fish is yellow with a dark-margined orange bar though the eye and a narrower orange bar through the pectoral base. There are two blue-grey bands with yellow-orange margins on the body.
This species grows to 15cm in length. It eats algae and benthic invertebrates.
Rainford's Butterflyfish is known from marine waters of southern Papua New Guinea to southern Queensland.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
View another image of Rainford's Butterflyfish on the larval fish research page.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & M. Allen. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research. Pp. 250.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
