Racoon Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunula (Lacépède 1802)


Other Names: Halfmoon Butterflyfish, Moon Butterfly Fish, Moon Butterflyfish, Racoon Coralfish, Racoon Coralfish, Red-striped Butterfly-fish

A Racoon Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunula, at Nick's Lumps, Exmouth, Western Australia, April 2009. Source: Erik Schlogl / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A yellowish-orange butterflyfish with a dusky-brown back, diagonal dark stripes on the lower sides, a broad black bar through the eye followed by a white bar immediately behind, a broad diagonal blackbar from the gill cover to the dorsal fin, and a black spot on the caudal peduncle.

Cite this page as:
A.Sahara Thomspon, Chaetodon lunula in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/421

Racoon Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunula (Lacépède 1802)

More Info


Distribution

Rottnest Island to Albert Reef, also Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef, Western Australia, Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Wollongong, New South Wales, and Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, the Racoon Butterflyfish is widespread in the Indo-Pacific.
Inhabits lagoons and outer reefs, mostly in on reef slopes or inter-tidal areas. 

Species Citation

Pomacentrus lunula Lacépède, 1802, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 4: 507, 511, 513. Type locality:  unknown.

Author

A.Sahara Thomspon

Racoon Butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunula (Lacépède 1802)

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2

Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & Allen, M. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Cairns : Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research 250 pp. 

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Burgess, W.E. 1978. Butterflyfishes of the World. New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications Inc. 832 pp. figs.

Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.

Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2002. Butterflyfishes, Bannerfishes and their Relatives. Chorleywood, U.K. : TMC Publishing 208 pp.

Lacépède, B.G. 1802. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : chez Plassan Vol. 4 728 pp. 16 pls.

Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls.

Pratchett, M.S. 2005. Dietary overlap among coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) at Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef. Marine Biology 148: 373-382.

Pratchett, M.S. & Berumen, M.L. 2008. Interspecific variation in ditributions and diets of coral reef butterflyfishes (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae). Journal of Fish Biology 73: 1730-1747.
Pyle, R. 2001. Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae. pp. 3224-3286 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.


Pyle, R., Craig, M.T. & Pratchett, M. 2010. Chaetodon lunula. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. . Downloaded on 15 August 2015.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Steene, R.C. 1978. Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World. Australia. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reed Vol. 1 144 pp. 216 figs.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37365042

Danger:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-60 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:20.0 cm TL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map