melon butterflyfish
Chaetodon trifasciatus Park, 1797
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The melon butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus) or the Indian redfin butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian Ocean from East Africa to Western Java. This is one species of a closely related group which includes the blacktail butterflyfish (C. austriacus) of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and the oval butterflyfish (C. lunulatus) which is found in the western Pacific, from eastern coasts of the Indonesian islands to Australia.
Melon butterflyfish should not be confused with chevron butterflyfish (C. trifascialis), three-striped butterflyfish (C. tricinctus), or three-banded butterflyfish (C. robustus).
Wikipedia contributors, Melon butterflyfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:41:12.863226+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Chaetodon trifasciatus Park, 1797
- Name authority
- Park, 1797
- Common name
- melon butterflyfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Acanthuriformes
- Family
- Chaetodontidae
- Genus
- Chaetodon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAcanthuriformes
- familyChaetodontidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusChaetodon Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesChaetodon trifasciatus Park, 1797
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Chaetodon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| bluelashed butterflyfishChaetodon bennetti Cuvier, 1831 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| threadfin butterflyfishChaetodon auriga Forsskål, 1775 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon miliaris Quoy & Gaimard, 1825 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific doublesaddle butterflyfishChaetodon ulietensis Cuvier, 1831 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon baronessa Cuvier, 1829 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon oxycephalus Bleeker, 1853 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| teardrop butterflyfishChaetodon unimaculatus Bloch, 1787 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon adiergastos Seale, 1910 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon argentatus Smith & Radcliffe, 1911 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon burgessi Allen & Starck, 1973 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon citrinellus Cuvier, 1831 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chaetodon daedalma Jordan & Fowler, 1902 | ChaetodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Tetragonoptrus trifasciatus (Park, 1797) (Park, 1797) | synonym |
| Chaetodon trifasciatus trifasciatus Park, 1797 Park, 1797 | synonym |
| Chaetodon bellus Solander, 1839 Solander, 1839 | synonym |
| Choetodon trifasciatus (Park, 1797) (Park, 1797) | synonym |
| Chaetodon trifasciatus caudifasciatus Ahl, 1923 Ahl, 1923 | synonym |
| Mesochaetodon trifasciatus (Park, 1797) (Park, 1797) | synonym |
| Chaetodon pepek Montrouzier, 1857 Montrouzier, 1857 | synonym |
| Chaetodon taunigrum Cuvier, 1831 Cuvier, 1831 | synonym |
| Tetragonoptrus vittatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) | synonym |
| Chaetodon layardi Blyth, 1852 Blyth, 1852 | synonym |
| Chaetodon ovalis Thiollière, 1857 Thiollière, 1857 | synonym |
| Chaetodon vittatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Bloch & Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Park, M. (1797). Descriptions of eight new fishes from Sumatra. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, v. 3 (art. 9): 33–38, Pl. [6]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:TC64. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.