Chaetodon octofasciatus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Chaetodon
Chaetodon octofasciatus
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. White to yellowish below with 7 black stripes over head and sides, one centrally on snout and another as a strong black margin on end of dorsal and anal fins. Third line extends onto ventral fin (Ref. 48636). Snout length 3.0-4.1 in HL. Body depth 1.4-1.6 in SL (Ref. 90102). Striking features: striking type of mouth.
Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: East Indies and the Philippines, through Papua New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef to the Solomon Island, Palau, and north to China; extends into the Indian Ocean at least to the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka.
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 3-20 m. Found in: coral reefs.
Biology
Swim in pairs in coral rich areas of sheltered lagoon and inshore reefs; juveniles seen in groups among Acropora corals. Feed exclusively on coral polyps. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).
Max length: 12.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; mating system: monogamy; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). Monogamous mating is observed as both obligate and social (Ref. 52884).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-10-08. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 p.
Myers, R.F. (1991) Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p.
Burgess, W.E. (1978) Butterflyfishes of the world. A monograph of the Family Chaetodontidae. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey.
Steene, R.C. (1978) Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty Ltd., Australia. vol. 1. 144 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Whiteman, E.A. and I.M. Côté (2004) Monogamy in marine fishes. Biol. Rev. 79:351-375.
Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann (2012) Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth, Australia: Universitiy of Hawai'i Press, Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research.
Comments On Chaetodon octofasciatus