Vermiculate Angelfish

Chaetodontoplus mesoleucus has blue lips contrasting with its yellow face. There is a black vertical band which runs through the eye. The body has a cinereous area to the rear of the head this shades into a more sizeable black area, which is marked all over with a pattern of yellow speckling. The caudal fin is yellow and the dorsal and anal fins have a vivid blue margin. The pelvic fins are white. The dorsal fin contains 12 spines and 17-18 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17-18 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in).

Chaetodontoplus mesoleucus is found in the western Indo-Pacific region. The northernmost part of its range is in southern Japan south through Indonesia west as far as the Mentawai Islands and east to the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, and south as far northern Australia. Its Australian distribution runs from the reefs off the Kimberley Region of Western Australia south to Varanus Island, as well as the Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea.