The African butterfly fish Pantodon buchholzi localizes its prey by means of surface waves of the water. Pantodon also responds and orientates well to artificial, short lasting prey-like signals (clicks), produced by a single air-puff or by dipping a small rod once into the water. When stimulated with clicks, which contain many frequencies, Pantodon determines the source distance (test range 5–20 cm) very precisely, regardless of stimulus amplitude, amplitude modulation and frequency band width. However, when the signal is a sine wave at a single frequency (sf) or with upward frequency modulation (ufm), the distance determination is generally impaired, i.e. the distance covered by the fish is too small to reach the wave source. However, the fish can also be tricked into moving too far by presenting it with a sine wave signal which, at a source distance of only 7 cm has a frequency modulation equivalent to a click at 15 cm. In contrast to distance determination, the ability to estimate the target angle is independent of the kind of wave signal presented. The results are discussed with respect to possible mechanisms used for prey localization.