‹ Fish Finder· #010
Chocolate Surgeonfish
Acanthurus pyroferus
Bislamastrongskin— names this kind of animal, not this species alone
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 29 cm
- Depth
- 5-40 m
- Family
- Acanthuridae
Acanthurus pyroferus, also known as the chocolate surgeonfish, mimic surgeonfish, orange-gilled surgeonfish, Pacific mimic surgeon, and yellowspot surgeon, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, which includes the sugeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in 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.
A copy that lasts only while the surgeonfish is young: juvenile Chocolate Surgeonfish can turn yellow to mimic the Lemonpeel Angelfish. The angelfish is bright yellow with a blue ring around the eye, blue edges on the gill cover and fins, and a strong spine at the corner of the gill cover. The young surgeonfish gives itself away with the scalpel-like spine on each side of its tail base and its small grazing mouth; it grows into a purplish-black adult with an orange patch at the gill opening.
See the Lemonpeel Angelfish →
Only the young Chocolate Surgeonfish mimics the Pearl-scaled Angelfish, pale in front and dark behind; it grows out of it into a chocolate-brown adult with an orange patch at the gill and a yellow tail margin. A mimic gives itself away with the surgeonfish's lance-shaped tail and its small grazing mouth; the angelfish has a rounded tail and a strong spine at the corner of the gill cover.
See the Pearl-scaled Angelfish →