‹ Fish Finder· #022
Bluespine Unicornfish
Naso unicornis
Bislamastrongskin · sanpepafis— shared across this genus
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 78 cm
- Depth
- 0-180 m
- Family
- Acanthuridae
The bluespine unicornfish, also known as the short-nose unicornfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific. It is occasionally found in the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 70 cm in length. It is called kala ('thorn') in Hawaii, dawa in New Caledonia, and ta or tā in Fiji. However the name kala refers to all three species of horned unicornfish found around Hawaii.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Both are plain blue-grey unicornfish. Bluespine Unicornfish has only a short horn, and two bright blue spines on each side of the tail base. Whitemargin Unicornfish grows a long horn that juts out ahead of the snout, has white lips and a white margin on the tail, and at up to 1 m it is the largest unicornfish.
See the Whitemargin Unicornfish →
Two plain grey-brown unicornfish of the same shape. Bluespine Unicornfish grows a short bony horn on the forehead, from about 12 cm long, and has two bright blue plates with forward-curving spines on each side of the tail base. Sleek Unicornfish never grows a horn or a bump: its forehead stays smoothly rounded. It swims in large schools off reef slopes, feeding on plankton, where the bluespine grazes seaweed in small groups.
See the Sleek Unicornfish →
Both are grey unicornfish with something on the head. Bluespine Unicornfish has a tapering horn that points forward at eye level and never reaches past the mouth, and bright blue plates at the tail base. Humpnose Unicornfish has a bulbous, rounded snout instead -- in big males it overhangs the mouth -- a clearly humped back densely spotted in black below the front of the dorsal fin, and a blackish dorsal fin edged in pale blue.
See the Humpnose Unicornfish →