---
title: "Saddle Butterflyfish"
description: "Chaetodon ephippium — Fish. The saddle butterflyfish (Chaetodon ephippium) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/saddle-butterflyfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Saddle Butterflyfish

> Chaetodon ephippium — Fish. The saddle butterflyfish  (Chaetodon ephippium) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae.

- Scientific name: *Chaetodon ephippium*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 2353
- Wikidata: [Q2697531](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2697531)
- iNaturalist taxon: [97157](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/97157)

## Names

- en: Saddle Butterflyfish
- de: Sattelfleck-Falterfisch
- es: Pez Mariposa
- fr: Poisson-papillon à selle noire

## Countries with the most observations

US (398), ID (311), FJ (218), NC (212), PF (201), AU (133), PW (70), CK (51), GU (44), JP (40), HK (36), SB (32)

## Summary

The saddle butterflyfish  (Chaetodon ephippium) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from Sri Lanka and the Cocos-Keeling Islands to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals and New South Wales in Australia.

It is a large butterflyfish, at up to 30 cm (nearly 12 in) long together with the Lined Butterflyfish (C. lineolatus) the giant among its genus. In shape it resembles certain angelfishes more than most of its relatives. The overall color is yellowish grey…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddle_butterflyfish

## Photo

![Saddle Butterflyfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/saddle-butterflyfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Carey_Knox_Southern_Scales · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/241067722

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/saddle-butterflyfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).