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Klein's Butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii Bloch, 1790
A Klein's Butterflyfish at a depth of 10 m, Fish Rock, South West Rocks, New South Wales, September 1998. View larger image.
A Klein's Butterflyfish at a depth of 12 m, Horseshoe Reef, west of Great Detached Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, November 2001. View larger image.
A Klein's Butterflyfish at a depth of 8 m, Marina Breakwall, Nelson Bay, Port Stephens, New South Wales, March 2004.
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.
This species grows to 14 cm in length.
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.
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.
- 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.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
