Main identification features
- head: black and white bars
- shoulder: oblique bars
- tail fin base: dark spot
Racoon butterflyfish
Body a strongly compressed oval disc; mouth small, at end of pointed snout, snout short, ~2X eye diameter; teeth long and slender; lateral line ends under dorsal fin; scales rough, covering head body and dorsal and anal fins; dorsal rays XI-XIII, 22-25; A III, 17-19; pectoral 15-16; 35-44 lateral line scales.
Body and fins bright yellow, shading to brown on upper back; a black bar from forehead through eye, with white bar immediately behind; an oblique black bar angled from upper edge of opercle to back of spiny dorsal; thin oblique brown lines on lower body; a black bar from soft dorsal onto tail base.
Size: 20 cm.
Habitat: rocky and coral reefs.
Depth: 1-30 m.
Indo-Pacific; vagrant in the Galapagos and Cocos.
Attributes
Abundance: Common.
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 30 m.
Depth Range Min: 1 m.
Diet: benthic microalgae; mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves; hard corals; sessile worms.
Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=6; Southern limit=-2; Western limit=-93; Eastern limit=-87; Latitudinal range=8; Longitudinal range=6.
Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Omnivore.
FishBase Habitat: Reef Associated.
Global Endemism: All Pacific (West + Central + East); Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.
Habitat: Corals; Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Rocks; Reef (rock &/or coral); Reef only.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 20 cm.
Regional Endemism: Island (s) only; Island (s); Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; All species.
Residency: Vagrant.
Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.
Water Column Position: Bottom; Near Bottom; Bottom + water column;
| 
