Chevron Butterflyfish

Appearance

Adults have an elongate white body with narrow chevron markings and may be up to 18 cm in length. Juveniles have a mostly yellow tail and a broad black band extending from the rear of the dorsal fin to the rear of the anal fin. The tail pattern and the coloring of the posterior part of body changes dramatically with growth, with the tail entirely black with a thin yellow outline and the hind part of the body not differing in color from the areas further forward in adults.

With its peculiar age-dependent color and elongated outline, this species has been placed in a monotypic subgenus "Megaprotodon". Its closest living relatives seem to be the species of the subgenera "Discochaetodon" and "Tetrachaetodon". These, and perhaps other subgenera, would use "Megaprotodon" as genus name if "Chaetodon" is split up.

"Chaetodon trifascialis" is a territorial species which occurs in semi-protected seaward and shallow lagoon reefs, closely associated with tabular and staghorn corals, the polyps and mucus of which they eat. They occur at depths ranging from 2–30 m. Adults are either seen to swim alone or in pairs, while juveniles are secretive among coral branches. They are oviparous.