Spot-banded butterfly fish

Scientific name : Chaetodon punctatofasciatus

Small (12 cm) butterfly fish, white-yellow in colour, with black spots and vertical bands. Orange eye band and caudal peduncle spot. Black spot on nape. Common on back reef, reef front and external reef. Living in pairs, feeding on corals, other benthic invertebrates, algae. Very similar to Chaetodon pelewensis, that has diagonal bands. Clearly distinguishable by the typical pattern from the similar Chaetodon citrinellus and Chaetodon mertensii. Occasionally aberrant specimen can be seen, whose bands do not follow the usual vertical pattern.