‹ Fish Finder· #007
Epaulette Surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricauda
Bislamastrongskin— names this kind of animal, not this species alone
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 55 cm
- Depth
- 2-15 m
- Family
- Acanthuridae
Acanthurus nigricauda, the epaulette surgeonfish, black-barred surgeonfish, eye-line surgeonfish, shoulderbar surgeonfish, white-tail surgeonfish or blackstreak surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Both have a dark mark just behind the eye, above the gill opening. Black-spot Surgeonfish's is a round black spot about the size of the eye, with a yellow to orange bar behind it; its brown body is crossed by thin grey-blue lines, and it has an orange ring around the eye and a yellow dorsal fin. Epaulette Surgeonfish's mark is a longer black streak, its body has no lines, and it has a white bar at the base of the tail.
See the Black-spot Surgeonfish →
Both carry a bold mark behind the eye, just above the gill opening. Orangespot Surgeonfish's is a bright orange bar edged in purplish black, and the front half of its body is often abruptly paler than the rear. Epaulette Surgeonfish's is a black streak; its body is one even shade, grey to dark brown, and it has a white bar at the base of the tail and a slim black line in front of the tail spines.
See the Orangespot Surgeonfish →