Goldstripe butterflyfish
Chaetodon aureofasciatus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A small butterflyfish with a grey, purple-shaded body inside a bright yellow rim, a dark-edged gold band through the eye and a second behind the gill cover. It works over coral in a pair, picking at polyps, and the two rarely get more than a metre apart.
how to recognise it
- a greyish body with purple shading over the sides (FoA calls it greyish, RLS yellow with purple shading — it reads grey-lavender in the water, with the yellow in the fins)
- a dark-edged gold band through the eye, and a second one behind the gill cover
- a bright yellow rim running round the fins (FoA)
- about 13 cm
don’t confuse with
- Rainford's butterflyfish — Rainford's butterflyfish carries more of the same bands along the body, and usually a black spot on the tail base
Field marks read from Reef Life Survey and Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-16. Our wording, their facts. Max size 13 cm.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~10 cm, to 13 cm
Max size from Reef Life Survey (13 cm); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 1295 at 11 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Low Isles (Port Douglas), Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Hinchinbrook Island — Ramsay Bay, Magnetic Island — Geoffrey Bay, Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Hayman Island — Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island — Manta Ray Bay, Great Keppel Island (East), Great Keppel Island (West), Delambre Island (Dampier WA). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
no QLD rule listed — check before you dive
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.