Chaetodon rainfordi

Rainfords Butterflyfish | Rainford's Butterflyfish
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi, adult, Lord Howe Is, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi, juvenile, Lizard Island, QLD, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi, adult, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi, Brisbane, Qld, Photo: Andrew Green
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Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi
Chaetodon rainfordi

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Series of dark-edged narrow golden bands along yellow body, and usually a black spot on tail base. Gold bands often encasing broader diffuse dark bars. C. aureofasciatus (Goldstripe Butterflyfish) lacks bars on the body and black tail base spot. Inhabit inshore reefs.


Information

Max Size: 15 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 19.8-30.3°C

Depth: 1-20m

Habitat Generalization Index: 15.75

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Near Threatened

Occurrence: Common (33.5% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (4 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland