---
title: "Blackback Butterflyfish"
description: "Chaetodon melannotus — Vissen. The black-backed butterflyfish or blackback butterflyfish (Chaetodon melannotus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the butterflyfish family Chaetodontidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/blackback-butterflyfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Blackback Butterflyfish

> Chaetodon melannotus — Vissen. The black-backed butterflyfish or blackback butterflyfish (Chaetodon melannotus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the butterflyfish family Chaetodontidae.

- Scientific name: *Chaetodon melannotus*
- Category: `fish` (Vissen)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 2509
- Wikidata: [Q2717383](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2717383)
- iNaturalist taxon: [97174](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/97174)

## Names

- en: Blackback Butterflyfish
- de: Schwarzrücken-Falterfisch
- es: Pez Mariposa de Dorso negro
- fr: Poisson-papillon à dos noir

## Countries with the most observations

ID (463), AU (426), NC (223), EG (215), FJ (123), NF (94), MV (62), TW (46), HK (42), PH (42), GU (36), JP (31)

## Summary

The black-backed butterflyfish or blackback butterflyfish (Chaetodon melannotus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the butterflyfish family Chaetodontidae. It is widespread through the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea and East Africa to southern Japan, Micronesia and Samoa.

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

## Photo

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

Photo: Joe Carmichael · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71058614

## Machine access

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