‹ Fish Finder· #018

Spotted Unicornfish

Naso brevirostris

Bislamastrongskin · sanpepafis— shared across this genus

Spotted Unicornfish — photo 1 of 4
Photo 1 of 4 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
rarebrowngreyspottedlargereef
Habitat
Reef
Max size
60 cm
Depth
4-46 m
Family
Acanthuridae

Naso brevirostris, also known as the short-nosed unicornfish, spotted unicornfish, brown unicornfish, lined unicornfish, longnose surgeonfish, palefin unicornfish, paletail unicornfish, shorthorned unicornfish or shortsnouted unicornfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. It occurs in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side, with what tells them apart.

Spotted Unicornfish
This oneSpotted Unicornfish
Whitemargin Unicornfish
Look-alikeWhitemargin Unicornfish

Both grow a long horn in front of the eyes. Spotted Unicornfish has a near-vertical snout under the horn, thin dark vertical lines on the flanks that break into spots lower down, a spotted head, and a mostly whitish tail. Whitemargin Unicornfish is plain blue-grey with no markings, white lips, and a dark tail with a thin white margin.

See the Whitemargin Unicornfish →

Create an account to collect this fish
Log a sighting on the map