WHATSTHATFISH
Bony fish

West Australian Butterflyfish

Chaetodon assarius

Also known as: Assarius Butterflyfish, Coralfish, Western Australian Butterflyfish, Western Butterflyfish

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2010
Adult
@greatwhite · Blowholes,Quobba, WA, Australia · December 20131 / 7
01

Overview

Found singly or in schools, over rock and sandy-weed flats of coastal reefs.
Eastern Indian Ocean - Western Australia

Has been known to stray to other areas, such as Indonesia, possibly in ships' ballast.

Butterflyfishes have very fine hair like teeth that enable them to pick out small organisms inaccessible to most other fish for eating.
They thrive mainly on a diet of coral polyps, tentacles of featherdusters and Christmas-tree worms. As these food sources all zap back into their shells, butterflyfishes need to be able to hover motionless while picking at the coral and to dart swiftly over short distances to get the worm before it retracts. They do this by using their Pectoral fins as oars to brake, sprint, turn and even reverse.

02

How to identify

Head & Mouth
eye stripe

Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.

03

Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Eastern Indian Ocean
  • Country only · 7
LIVES IN

Found singly or in schools, over rock and sandy-weed flats of coastal reefs.

04

Adult photos 7

05

Discussion

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    ALL STAGES
    FOR THE MARINE-BIOLOGY CURIOUS

    Deep dive

    Taxonomy

    1. kingdomAnimalia
    2. phylumChordata
    3. classTeleostei
    4. orderAcanthuriformes
    5. familyChaetodontidae
    6. genusChaetodon
    7. speciesChaetodon assarius Waite, 1905

    SourcesWoRMSFishBase

    06

    More in the family

    Butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae)