Acanthurus chirurgus
Doctorfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes)
Acanthurus
Acanthurus chirurgus (Doctorfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Relatively long pectoral fin, emarginate caudal fin, 10 to 12 dark bars on body, head elevated and evenly convex to dorsal fin origin, anterior and posterior nares oval shaped with narrow flap on posterior margins, teeth number 10 to 18 in upper jaw and 14 to 16 in lower jaw, first gill arch has 16 to 19 gill rakers, measurements (% SL): head length 29%–32%, snout length 19%–20%, eye diameter 8%–9%, pectoral fin length 29%–30%, body depth 52%–54%, pectoral fin has 16 or 17 rays, dorsal fin has nine spines and 24 or 25 rays, anal fin has three spines and 22 or 23 rays
Color in life is brown or tan, with 10 to 12 narrow bars on flanks, caudal peduncle is light, and caudal peduncle spine is outlined with blue pigment, posterior margin of caudal fin has a very narrow pale margin; in preservative, color is tannish brown, with opercular margin and area around caudal peduncle spine dark brown to black and caudal peduncle light
Distribution
Tropical to warm temperate Atlantic, in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts and Bermuda to Brazil, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Habitat Associations
Coral reefs
Biology
Maximum known size is 350 mm TL
Inhabits shallow reefs or rocky areas. Found in loose aggregations (Ref. 9710). Mainly diurnal. Ingests sand when feeding on algae (Ref. 13442). The spine on both sides of the caudal peduncle may inflict painful wounds (Ref. 5217). Minimum depth reported from Ref. 27115. Larvae are planktonic (Ref. 47377). At Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in southwestern Atlantic, juveniles hold cleaning stations together with the blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) and sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis) and graze algae as well as pick molted skin and parasites from green turtles (Chelonia mydas). This behavior is preceded by a characteristic inspection usually followed by feeding nips on the turtles’ skin (head, limbs, and tail), as well as on the carapace. The most inspected and cleaned body parts are the flippers (Ref. 51385).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2010-05-03. Resilience: Medium (K=0.25-0.50).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941 (as Acanthurus hepatus)
Randall 1956
Randall 1996
Randall 2002c
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Sonnier et al. 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Matsuura 1983o
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Desoutter, M. (1990) Acanthuridae. p. 962-964. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Figueiredo, J.L., A.P.D. Santos, N. Yamaguti, R.A. Bernardes and C.L. Del Bianco Rossi-Wongtschowski (2002) Peixes da zona econômica exclusiva da Região Sudeste-Sul do Brasil: Levantamento com Rede de Meia-Água. São-Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo; Imprensa Oficial do Estado, 242 p.
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