Chaetodon triangulum

Chaetodon triangulum has a flat triangular shaped body, the shape being emphasised when the fins are fully spread with an elongated snout.[3] The body is predominantly whitish in colour with many broad, vertical grey chevron-shaped bands along the sides, The mouth is orange there is a brownish orange vertical band through the eye, this is orange close to the top of the head and widens to extend rearward on the base of the dorsal fin in adults. The caudal peduncle is black, as is the caudal fin but its margins are yellow.[4] The dorsal fin has 11-12 spines and 23-26 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 20-21 soft rays. This species attains an maximum total length of 16 centimetres (6.3 in).[2]

Chaetodon triangulum has a wide distribution in the Indian Ocean from the coast of tropical East Africa east to the Andaman Sea and along the Indian Ocean coastlines of Sumatra and Java. It also occurs at the Seribu Islands and has been reported from Bali.[1]

Chaetodon triangulum is found in lagoon and seaward reefs where it is strongly associated with corals in the genus Acropora, especially staghorn corals. This is a territorial species which lives in pairs, although the solitary juveniles hide among coral branches.[2] Triangle butterflyfish are obligate corallivores that feeds mainlyly on Acropora corals. They defend patches of these corals and actively chase other butterflyfishes from these territories and the food supply it contains.[1]

Chaetodon triangulum was first formally described in 1831 by the French anatomist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) with the type locality given as Jakarta.[5]