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Animal-World
Information
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Special Features
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Marine Aquarium
Fish Libraries
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| Marine Aquarium Information
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Hardy in captivity, often good community fish, and most make excellent algae
eaters for a reef!
Click on a Genus (or scroll down) to acess each type of Surgeonfish:
The Acanthuridae family contains the fish that are known as Surgeonfish, Tangs, Unicornfish, and doctorfish. The name "surgeonfish" is derived from their possessing
erectable razor sharp spines called 'scalpels' at the base of their bodies just in front of
the tail fin. These spines or scalpels are very sharp and can cut like a knife. They have oval bodies that
are very compressed laterally and small mouths adapted for nibbling and scraping small organisms from the rocks and coral.
Most varieties of Surgeonfish can be kept together, but
sometimes they can be territorial. It is best to add all your specimens at
the same time or rearrange the rockwork when adding a new species to an aquarium
already containing a resident surgeonfish. Read about each species to learn about its size, adaptibility, beharior, diet, and especially compatibility with its own species as well as any other species.
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| Genus: Paracanthurus |
| Blue Tang | |
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Paracanthurus hepatus | | |
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see your favorite Surgeonfish or Tang here?
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Description:
The surgeonfish belong to the Acanthuridae family. They are a very ancient fish, with fossils dating back more than 50 million
years to the Tertiary period (Eocene). Today they are found in all the tropical seas of the world, with the exception of the Mediterranean. Most are found in relatively shallow
waters, especially where the water is clear and the rock, rubble, or dead coral is exposed
to good sunlight providing good algae growth. Coastal waters, harbors and even estuaries
for the young are prime areas for these fish. Many of these surgeonfish are small enough for a home aquarium.
Species that inhabit the open ocean are fewer, but are found in larger numbers. Most of these surgeonfish get quite large with some species reaching up to almost 40 inches (101 cm). These larger fish are not suitable for a home aquarium but will often be featured in public aquariums.
Surgeonfish live primarily in large schools or in pairs. They primarily ingest plant matter with
most grazing on the reef, but will also pick at the detritus, and there are some that feed
predominantly on zooplankton. At night they sleep in small caves or crevices in the reef.
Genus/Species:
The Acanthuridae family consist of 6 genera and about 72
species. The name 'surgeonfish' is derived from a unique attribute of this family. These
species are clearly distinguished from other fish by the spine or spines located on the
base of the caudal fin, on the caudal peduncle. These spines are either foldable or
fixed, are blade like, and are quite sharp. You need to be very careful when handling these
fish to avoid a painful cut. A cut from these scalpels can cause discoloration and swelling of the skin with a high risk of infection. The pain lasts for hours then still ends up having a dull ache. It is a good idea to use a fine meshed net when catching them
to keep them from getting stuck in the net.
The popular 'unicornfish' are from the Naso genus, and are called the unicornfish because some of the species have a horn-like
projection on the forehead. The term 'sailfin tang' is most often applied to the popular species in the Zebrasoma genus. The Ctenochaetus genus are often referred to as 'Bristletooth' or 'Combtooth' tangs, due to their nature of feeding.
The Acanthuridae family
is divided into three subfamilies.
Ichthyologists use the caudal peduncle and spines as
distinguishing characteristics
to place each member into one of the three sub-families.)
- The subfamily Ancanturinae includes four genera:
Acanthurus, Zebrasoma, Paracanthurus, and Ctenochaetus.
The fish from these genera are very popular and many are brightly colored. They all have a single caudal spine which folds into a grove on the side of the caudal peduncle. Many have bright colors outlining these spines which serves as a warning coloration.
These fish will use their spines when feeling threatened or endangered. They spread their fins out and then dart forward, whipping their tail at the aggressor. When the tail fin twists, it bends at a sharp 80° angle causing the spine to become erect and flip out, creating a slashing type action. It is thought that the spines on some of these species may be venomous, but detailed studies have been unable to determine this.
- The subfamily Nasinae has one genus:
Naso.
These fish have one or two fixed blades on each side of the caudal peduncle.
- The subfamily Prionurinae has one genus, Prionus.
These fish have three to six fixed
blades on each side of the peduncle. They are also found in cooler waters.
The spines on the two sub-families with the fixed blades are used in a similar manner to that of
the
Ananturinae. Extensive studies on these two have found that either the spines or their
surrounding tissues are poisonous. Damage sustained from the spine of a prionurid
surgeonfish resulted in death for all injured fish. (Baensch, 1994). |
There are five main genus of Surgeonfish suitable for the aquarium:
- Acanthurus - The
genus Acanthurus consists of 36 known species. This is the largest of all six genus in the Acanthuridae family, and the species are found in all three oceans.
- Ctenochaetus - The genus Ctenochaetus consists of 9 species. They are often referred to as the 'Bristletooth' or 'Combtooth' Tangs, due to their nature of feeding. They have several rows of small flexible comb like teeth (up to 30 teeth) along with a protrusive pouting mouth. These teeth are adapted for lifting and sifting through various types of algae and detrital material off of rocks, sand, and other surfaces and then they use their mouth to suck the food up. In the aquarium you will often see little lip marks on the glass where algae used to be from this feeding behavior. Unlike most of the other tangs of the Acanthuridae family who posses 9 dorsal spines, the Ctenochaetus have only 8 dorsal spines (the first one being very small).
The most popular
and available species in this genus are the Yellow-eyed Tang Ctenochaetus strigosus and the Chevron Tang Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis.
Its diet makes it a great complimentary companion for other peaceful surgeonfish such as those in the Zebrasoma genus that eat the larger filamentatous algae. Several species in the genus Ctenochaetus exhibit
a change in coloration from juvenile to adult,
though most other surgeonfish don't change color as they get older.
- Naso - The genus Naso consists of 19 species. The most popular characteristic of this genus is the development of a lump or single horn-like projection on the forehead of some of the members of the Naso genus, giving them the designation of 'Unicornfish'. However many of them don't develop horns at all, and some only develop horns on the
male fish. Other characteristics include an elongated body shape, a narrower caudal peduncle with two scalpels or spines on either side that are fixed rather than retractible (with the exception of three species having only a single spine), three pelvic fin rays, and a single continous dorsal fin starting at the head and extending the length of the body.
They generally
swim in large schools and feed on zooplankton.
The exception is Naso literatus, the "Lipstick
Tang", which feeds on algae and usually lives in pairs. They are among some of the hardiest and most peaceful of the surgeonfish, the biggest obstacle to maintaining them in an aquarium is their very large size, ranging from one to over three feet. Most are suitable only for a public aquariums. The Lipstick Tang N. literatus is again the exception, as it can fit in quite well in a large home aquarium.
- Paracanthurus - There is only one species in the genus Paracanthurus, and it is probably the most popular of the tangs. It is the Blue Tang Paracanthurus hepatus, also known as the Regal Tang or Hippo
Tang.
- Zebrasoma - The
genus Zebrasoma consists of 7 species. They are popularly called the 'sailfin tangs' because when their fins are fully extended the height of the fish is about the same as its length, giving it a disk-shaped appearance. The sailfin tangs are found
in every ocean of the world.
These relatively small surgeonfish are the hardiest of the marine aquarium
inhabitants. They make good aquarium inhabitants as they are peaceful and get along well with a wide variety of other fish. They are curious, active, and very personable; and they are voracious algae eaters making them excellent candidates for a reef environment. Some favorites that are regularly available are the Yellow Tang Z. flavescens, Pacific Sailfin Tang Z. veliferum, and the Twotone Tang Z. scopas.
Care and feeding:
Many of the surgeonfish can be robust aquarium inhabitants in a proper environment that
is well maintained. Most make a good tank mate for the community setting as wells as a
great addition to a reef, where they will continually graze on algae growth.
They should be fed several times a day. In the wild, algae is their
main food source and they are continually browsing. They should be offered vegetable based prepared foods,
brine shrimp, blood worms, chopped clams, plankton, and krill. Such foods as Japanese Nori, Romaine
lettuce, or spinach can be floated in the aquarium for grazing.
See each species for more detailed care.
Breeding:
See Breeding Marine
Fish for information on reproductive habits.
Back to Marine Fish
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Vlaming's Unicornfish - Naso vlamingii
Photo © Animal-Word. Courtesy David Brough
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