Klein's Butterflyfish

Klein's Butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii), also called the sunburst butterflyfish, is a small, widespread Indo-Pacific butterflyfish with a warm golden-brown to yellowish body. It shows a black bar through the eye, faint dusky patches on the flanks, and dark-edged fins. Less flashy than many butterflyfish, it is nonetheless one of the most common and adaptable species, found over a wide depth range and often in loose groups. It feeds heavily on soft corals and plankton and is a hardy, frequently kept aquarium fish.

Identify Klein's Butterflyfish by:

• A golden-brown to yellowish body, sometimes with two faint dusky vertical patches.
• A black bar through the eye and a dark snout tip.
• Dark-edged dorsal, anal, and tail fins.
• Small disc-shaped body, ~12-14 cm.

The plain warm-brown body with subtle dusky bands and the eye bar distinguish it from more boldly patterned butterflyfish.

Klein's Butterflyfish inhabit coral reefs, slopes, and lagoons over a broad depth range from the shallows to about 60 m across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii. They are habitat generalists, occurring on many reef types, and are among the more commonly seen butterflyfish.

Klein's Butterflyfish are diurnal omnivores feeding heavily on soft coral polyps, plankton, and algae, and they will rise into the water column to pick drifting food. They occur singly, in pairs, or in loose groups, more sociable than many butterflyfish. At night they shelter in the reef, and pairs spawn by releasing eggs into the water column.