Chaetodon semeion

Dotted Butterflyfish | Decorated Butteflyfish | Golden Butterflyfish
Chaetodon semeion
Chaetodon semeion, adult, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Yellow with a trailing dorsal filament, transparent tail and a blue patch on head above eye. Horizontal lines of small black spots on body, black blotch on face over eye and black markings on base of rear of dorsal and anal fins.


Information

Max Size: 26 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 25.3-31.3°C

Depth: 2-50m

Habitat Generalization Index: 3.64

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Infrequent (8.9% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (2 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland