Pearlscale Butterflyfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Small, disc-shaped body up to about 14 cm
• Pale white to cream background covered in a fine reticulated lattice of orange-edged scales, giving a pearly, netted look
• Broad black mask through the eye, bordered narrowly in white
• Solid black vertical bar crossing the rear body just before the caudal peduncle
• Bright yellow tail fin contrasting with the pale body
• Dorsal and anal fins edged in orange-black

Common look-alikes

• Redback Butterflyfish (Chaetodon paucifasciatus): has a solid reddish-orange saddle running along the back rather than an all-over reticulated scale pattern, and replaces the Pearlscale in the Indian Ocean.
• Chevron Butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifascialis): fine chevron striping runs diagonally rather than forming a netted lattice, and lacks the black rear body bar.

Where you'll see one

This species is native to the western Pacific, from the Philippines and Indonesia north to southern Japan, where it favors coral-rich lagoon and outer reef slopes, often near current-swept drop-offs. It is usually encountered singly or in loosely associated pairs, picking at coral polyps, worms, and other small invertebrates among branching and plate corals throughout the day.