Creature Feature: Chevron Butterflyfish

Chevron Butterflyfish. Photo Credit: James Watt

Chevron Butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifascialis) are found in the Indo-West Pacific, including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but are considered rare in the main Hawaiian Islands due to the absence of their primary food source. These fish are generally solitary and are highly territorial. Adults are normally seen alone; however, there have been cases where a male's territory included two or three females. These fish are known for their specialized diet, and rely solely on the table and staghorn corals of the Acropora genus. They feed on the coral polyps and mucus of these coral species, and are one of the few fish species in Hawai'i that are dedicated coralivores. Regardless of their highly specialized diet, they are present on a large geographic scale due to the distances that currents have sent larvae after dispersal, and the wide distribution of Acropora corals.

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