Chaetodon selene
Uncommon but memorable: spot this yellow-dotted butterflyfish on reefs in Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, year-round in 25-29C water.
A small, disc-shaped butterflyfish around 11 cm, pale grey-white body covered in fine yellow dots arranged in diagonal rows. A dark vertical band runs through the eye, and a black-edged spot sits near the rear of the dorsal fin close to the tail. Its yellow fin trim and dotted flank pattern together are the main giveaways against other white-bodied chaetodons.
Divers typically find it picking around coral heads and rubble patches, moving alone or in a loose pair rather than in groups. It keeps a cautious distance from divers, drifting toward cover rather than approaching, and tends to stay close to the reef structure rather than out in open water.
Like most butterflyfish it feeds on small invertebrates and coral polyps picked directly off the reef surface, a slow, deliberate feeding style that's easy to watch if you hover still nearby.
Sightings show no clear seasonal pattern, and its comfort range of roughly 24.7 to 29C matches tropical reef temperatures year-round, so any month is fair game in Nusa Tenggara or the Visayas.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Most consistently logged in Indonesia, particularly Nusa Tenggara, with additional sightings from the Visayas in the Philippines. It's not a fish tied to one famous site so much as a scattered, low-density presence across Indo-Pacific reef systems in these regions.
Mapping where Yellowdotted Butterflyfish is logged…
Best chances are in Indonesia, especially around Nusa Tenggara, with additional records from the Visayas region of the Philippines. It's logged as uncommon at every known site, so treat any sighting as a bonus rather than a guarantee.
There's no detected season for this species, and its 24.7 to 29C temperature range covers tropical reefs all year, so sightings are essentially a year-round possibility in Nusa Tenggara or the Visayas.
Look for a pale, disc-shaped body dotted in fine yellow spots, a dark bar through the eye, and a dark spot near the rear dorsal fin. It's small, around 11 cm, and usually seen alone near reef structure.
They reach about 11 cm, a typical small size for reef-dwelling butterflyfish, making them easy to overlook against busier coral backgrounds.
No, they pose no threat to divers and simply move away from close approach rather than showing any defensive behaviour.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Melon Butterflyfish
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