Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Chaetodon punctatofasciatus Cuvier, 1831

Pez Mariposa de Bandas Moteadas, Spotband butterflyfish

 Chaetodon punctatofasciatus, at Pinta East. Photo: Franklin Teran, CDF..
Chaetodon punctatofasciatus, at Pinta East. Photo: Franklin Teran, CDF..

Butterflyfish up to 12 cm, commonly seen in pairs and associated with coral reefs up to 45 m deep.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Chordata

Class
Actinopteri

Order
Acanthuriformes

Family
Chaetodontidae

Genus
Chaetodon

Species
punctatofasciatus

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Chaetodon punctato-fasciatus Cuvier, 1831; Chaetodon punctatolineatus Gronow, 1854; Chaetodon punctofasciatus Cuvier, 1831 (Ahyong, S et al., 2025)

Origin: Native

Distribution

Distribution: It is distributed in the Central Pacific from the Line Islands to Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and westward to Malaysia and islands in the eastern Indian Ocean. In the Galápagos Islands, it has been recorded at Pinta.

References

  • Ahyong, S Et. al. (2025) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. doi:10.14284/170
  • Bensted-Smith W Terán F, Banks S, Keith I (2025) New photographic records of eight marine fishes from the Galápagos Islands, including three first records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Check List 21 (2): 485–505. https://doi.org/10.15560/21.2.485

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Chaetodon punctatofasciatus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=25584. Accessed 7 April 2026.