Acanthuridae

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Family of fishes with caudal spines

title: "Acanthuridae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["acanthuridae", "acanthuriformes-families", "marine-fish-families", "taxa-named-by-charles-lucien-bonaparte", "articles-which-contain-graphical-timelines"] description: "Family of fishes with caudal spines" topic_path: "general/acanthuridae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthuridae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of fishes with caudal spines ::

| name = Surgeonfish | fossil_range = | image = Acanthurussohal-ArabischerDoktor.jpg | image_caption = Sohal surgeonfish, Acanthurus sohal. The orange mark on the tail peduncle shows where the spine is folded in. | taxon = Acanthuridae | authority = Bonaparte, 1835 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = see text | type_species = Acanthurus triostegus | type_species_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Acanthurus_spine_peduncle.jpg" caption="The exposed caudal spine of ''[[Acanthurus xanthopterus]]''"] ::

The Acanthuridae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 86 extant species of marine fishes living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs. Many of the species are brightly colored and popular in aquaria.

Etymology

The family name comes from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine", and οὐρά (ourá), meaning "tail", a reference to the scalpel-like bony plates on the type species' caudal peduncle. In the early 1900s, the family was called Hepatidae.

Subfamilies and genera

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Acanthurus_MH-MCZArtwork_ARC_209-030.jpg" caption="1865 watercolor of an ''Acanthurus'' by [[Jacques Burkhardt" alt="Watercolor of an Acanthurus."] ::

Acanthuridae contains these extant subfamilies and genera:

Evolution and fossil record

Several extinct genera are known from fossils dating from the Eocene to Miocene:

Eocene genera

A particularly large diversity of fossil surgeonfish is known from the Monte Bolca lagerstatte of Italy. These represent some of the earliest representatives of the individual tribes within the Acanthuridae.

Oligocene genera

Miocene genera

Morphology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Ctenochaetus_striatus,_Yamada,_Onna,_Kunigami,_Okinawa_904-0416,Japan_imported_from_iNaturalist_photo_100256731(cropped).jpg" caption="striated surgeonfish"] ::

The distinctive characteristic of the family is that they have scalpel-like modified scales, one or more on either side of the peduncle of the tail. The spines are dangerously sharp and may seriously injure anyone who carelessly handles such a fish. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are large, extending for most of the length of the body. Their mouths are small and have a single row of teeth adapted to grazing on algae.

Surgeonfishes sometimes feed as solitary individuals, but they often travel and feed in schools, which may be a mechanism for overwhelming the highly aggressive defense responses of small territorial damselfishes that vigorously guard small patches of algae on coral reefs. Most species are fairly small, with a maximum length of 15 –, but some in the genus Acanthurus, some in the genus Prionurus, and most species in the genus Naso may grow larger; the whitemargin unicornfish (Naso annulatus) is the largest species in the family, reaching a length up to 1 m. These fishes may grow quickly in aquaria, so average growth size and suitability should be checked before adding them to any marine aquarium. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Post_larval_surgeonfish_(Acanthurus_sp.)_(28822279247).jpg" caption="Acronurus stage of an unidentified ''Acanthurus'' near [[Morotai"] ::

A larval acanthurid, known as an acronurus, looks strikingly different from the juvenile and adult forms of the same individual. It is mostly transparent and tends to have a pelagic lifestyle, living in open water for an extended period of time before settling on the ocean bottom near the shore, where it develops into the juvenile and ultimately the adult form.

Symbiotic bacteria

Acanthurids are the only known hosts of the bacteria of the genus Epulopiscium. These bacteria affect the digestion of surgeonfish, enabling them to digest the algae in their diet.

In the aquarium

Tangs are very sensitive to disease in the home aquarium. However, if fed enough algae and the aquarium is properly maintained, disease should not be a problem. Quarantining the animals for a period is usually needed before introducing them to the aquarium.

Adults range from 15 to in length and most grow quickly even in aquaria. When considering a tang for an aquarium, the size to which these fish can grow must be considered. Larger species such as the popular Pacific blue tang surgeonfish, Naso or lipstick tang, lined surgeonfish, Sohal surgeonfish, and Atlantic blue tang surgeonfish can grow to 40 cm and require swimming room and hiding places.

Many also suggest adding aggressive tangs to the aquarium last as they are territorial and may fight and possibly kill other fish.

Tangs primarily graze on macroalgae from genera such as Caulerpa and Gracilaria, although they have been observed in an aquarium setting to eat meat-based fish foods. A popular technique for aquarists is to grow macroalgae in a sump or refugium. This technique not only is economically beneficial, but also serves to promote enhanced water quality through nitrate absorption. The growth of the algae can then be controlled by feeding it to the tang.

Gallery

File:Acanthurus achilles1.jpg|Achilles tang, Acanthurus achilles File:A. dussumieri 2.jpg|Eyestripe surgeonfish, Acanthurus dussumieri File:Acanthurus leucosternon 01.JPG|Powderblue surgeonfish, Acanthurus leucosternon File:Acanthurus tennenti Kreisdorn-Doktorfisch3.jpg|Doubleband surgeonfish, Acanthurus tennenti File:Ctenochaetus strigosus 1.jpg|Kole tang, Ctenochaetus strigosus File:Naso vlamingii - Masken-Nasendoktorfisch imponierend.jpg|Bignose unicornfish, Naso vlamingii File:Nasounicornis-Blauklingen.jpg|Bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis File:Acanthuridae - Zebrasoma desjardinii.JPG|Red Sea sailfin tang, Zebrasoma desjardinii File:A. olivaceus.jpg|Orangespot surgeonfish, Acanthurus olivaceus File:Paletten-Doktorfisch Münster.JPG|Regal tang, Paracanthurus hepatus in an aquarium

References

References

  1. (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa.
  2. Seale, Alvin. (1909). "New Species of Philippine Fishes". [[Bureau of Science in Manila]].
  3. (2016). "Fishes of the World". Wiley.
  4. [[Samuel Hubbard Scudder]]. (1884). "Nomenclator Zoologicus: An Alphabetical List of All Generic Names that Have Been Employed by Naturalists for Recent and Fossil Animals from the Earliest Times to the Close of the Year 1879". Bulletin of the United States National Museum.
  5. (2014). "The Bolca Fossil-Lagerstätte: A window into the Eocene World. 5. The Pesciara- Monte Postale Fossil-Lagerstätte: 2. Fishes and other vertebrates. Excursion guide". Rendiconti della Società Paleontologica Italiana.
  6. Carnevale, Giorgio. (2018-04-23). "The caudal skeleton of Arambourgthurus scombrurus (Arambourg, 1967), a Paleogene oceanic surgeonfish". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.
  7. Tyler, James C.. (2011-10-01). "A new genus and species of surgeon fish (Perciformes, Acanthuridae) from the Oligocene of Kanton Glarus, Switzerland". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology.
  8. Klanten, Selma O.. (2004-07-01). "Patterns of lineage diversification in the genus Naso (Acanthuridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
  9. Tyler, James C.. (1997-01-01). "The Miocene fish Marosichthys, a putative tetraodontiform, actually a perciform surgeon fish (Acanthuridae) related to the recent Naso". Beaufortia.
  10. Sorenson, L., Santini, F., Carnevale, G. and Alfaro, M.E. (2013) "A multi-locus timetree of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae, Percomorpha), with revised family taxonomy". ''Molecular phylogenetics and evolution'', '''68'''(1): 150–160. {{doi. 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.03.014
  11. {{FishBase family. (2007)
  12. W. S. Alevizon. (1976). "Mixed schooling and its possible significance in a tropical western Atlantic parrotfish and surgeonfish". [[Copeia]].
  13. Jonna, R. Jamil. "Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes)".
  14. (2015). "Diet strongly influences the gut microbiota of surgeonfishes". Molecular Ecology.
  15. Fishelson, L.. (1999-03-01). "Polymorphism in gigantobacterial symbionts in the guts of surgeonfish (Acanthuridae: Teleostei)". Marine Biology.
  16. (1994-08-01). "Giant bacterium (Epulopiscium fishelsoni ) influences digestive enzyme activity of an herbivorous surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigrofuscus)". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology.

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