Find a Fish
Reticulated Butterflyfish
Chaetodon reticulatus Cuvier, 1831
A Reticulated Butterflyfish at a depth or 20m, Rapid Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, December 2000. View larger image.
The Reticulated Butterflyfish can be recognised by its colouration. The body is black with white scale centres giving it a spotted appearance.
There is a white-edged black bar through the eye and a broad whitish area behind this. The upper edge of the anal fin is red-orange.
The Reticulated Butterflyfish grows to 16cm in length.
It eats mainly coral polyps.
This species is known from tropical marine waters of the central and western Pacific.
In Australia it is recorded from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland and some Coral Sea reefs.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- 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.
