Common Name: Teardrop Butterflyfish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, East Africa to the Hawaiian and Marquesan Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe and the Rapa Islands. In Australia recorded from northern Western Australia, the Coral Sea, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequent areas of high coral density, reef flats and lagoons, seaward reefs. Depth to 60 m, usually 10 to 30 m.

Additional Notes: Pale belly with yellow back and tear drop shaped black blotch in centre of upper body. Often in pairs or small groups, adults often in depths below 20 m. Feeds on hard and soft corals, also filamentous algae, polychaete worms and small crustaceans. Monogamous and forms pairs during breeding. Grows to 20 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.212.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://fishbase.ca/summary/Chaetodon-unimaculatus.html. Accessed 11/05/18.