Acanthurus coeruleus
Blue Tang
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes)
Acanthurus
Acanthurus coeruleus (Blue Tang)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. A deep-bodied surgeonfish (body depth 1.7 in SL) with a conspicuous yellow caudal spine. Has the most distinctive coloration of all western Atlantic surgeonfishes (Ref. 26938). Striking features: none.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: New York, USA and Bermuda to the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Ascension Island (Ref. 7345).
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 2-50 m. Found in: estuaries, coral reefs.
Biology
Inhabits coral reefs, inshore grassy or rocky areas. Forms small groups (Ref. 26235). Mainly diurnal. Feeds entirely on algae (Ref. 5521). At Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in southwestern Atlantic, juveniles hold cleaning stations together with the doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus) 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). Diurnal species (Ref. 3194). It forms resident spawning aggregations in late afternoon after high tide (Ref. 27825, 120681, 120682). The spine on both sides of the caudal peduncle may inflict painful wounds (Ref. 5217). Marketed fresh. Maximum depth reported taken from Ref. 127989.
Max length: 39.0 cm TL; common length: 25.0 cm TL.
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=0.11-0.50).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 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. and N.A. Menezes (2000) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 p.
Comments On Acanthurus coeruleus