Another, oval shaped black mark with a silvery forward margin is located on the caudal peduncle.

[2] Parachaetodon ocellatus has an Indo-Pacific distribution which extends from eastern India and Sri Lanka east through the south-east Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines and into the Pacific Ocean as far as the Fiji.

[4] Parachaetodon ocellatus is found on coastal and inner reefs, typically as pairs or in small aggregations over open areas with a sand or silt substrate,[4] These normally have scattered patches of sponge.

[5] The Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker described a new species of butterflyfish, Chaetodon oligacanthus, from Java in 1850.

This was considered by later workers to be closely related or synonymous with Cuvier’s Platax ocellatus.