any small tropical marine percoid fish of the genera Chaetodon, Chelmon, etc, that has a deep flattened brightly coloured or strikingly marked body and brushlike teeth: family Chaetodontidae
See also angelfish (sense 1)
butterflyfish in American English
(ˈbʌtərˌflaɪˌfɪʃ)
nounWord forms: pluralˈbutterˌflyˌfish or ˈbutterˌflyˌfishes
any of a percoid family (Chaetodontidae) of small, brightly colored, usually yellow, tropical reef fishes