Oval butterfly fish

Scientific name : Chaetodon lunulatus

Small-medium size butterfly fish (max 15 cm), oval shape, white-yellowish colour with longitudinal grey lines. Dorsal and anal fins with orange edge.
Juvenile form has a false eye next to the tail, fading in adults. On most books this species is still named Chaetodon trifasciatus. Only recently it has been clarified that both the two species must be considered valid. Chaetodon trifasciatus lives in the Indian Ocean, Chaetodon lunulatus in the Pacific.
Very common on reef front, where the hard corals it feeds on are more abundant. It is an obigate corallivorous, territorial, monogamic (always living in pair, male and female undistinguishable). It is easy to observe it while feeding, grazing on hard corals, swallowing small pieces of mucus and tissues.
Oval shape and colour make it relatively easy to identify in our area. The almost identical species Chaetodon trifasciatus lives in the Indian Ocean and has orange tail. Another sister species, Chaetodon austriacus, with black fins, lives in the Red Sea.
As obligate corallivorous, it is a good indicator of coral health. Grazing on many hard coral species, as can be argued from the mouth shape, short, blunt, poorly specialized.

Associated organisms
With hard corals Scleractinia.