Sealife guideThe orangeband surgeonfishAcanthurus olivaceus
Last updated on 09/05/2024 at 09:40 PM
Taxonomy
- Common name: Orangeband surgeonfish
- French name: Poisson chirurgien olive à bande orange, chirurgien à épaulettes, chirurgien gendarme (Polynésie)
- Scientific name: Acanthurus olivaceus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Family name: Acanthuridae
- Order name: Acanthuriformes
- Class name: Actinopterygii
Description
The orangeband surgeonfish, as its name suggests, has a dominant greenish-brown color with a distinctive large, horizontally elongated oval orange patch that starts behind its eye and ends in a blue-violet comet-shaped tail in the middle of its body.

The orangeband surgeonfish (Acanthurus olivaceus) © Rickard Zerpe sous licence Creative Commons
A thin light-colored border outlines its long dorsal and anal fins.
The orangeband surgeonfish is a modest-sized fish, reaching about 8 inches in length when fully grown.
Geographic range
The orangeband surgeonfish is found in the tropical waters of the central Pacific ocean and also in the Indian ocean around the coral reefs of Mauritius.
Diet
Like most surgeonfish, the orangeband surgeonfish is primarily herbivorous. It feeds on algae and detritus scraped from the surfaces of coral reefs and rocky bottoms using its beak-shaped mouth.
Did you know ?
As an herbivore, the orangeband surgeonfish helps maintain healthy coral reefs by controlling algae growth.
The orangeband surgeonfish is listed as many other marine species within The IUCN Red List of threatened species. The orangeband surgeonfish appears in the IUCN Red List since 2012 within the category Least Concern !
Within the same genus

Blue tang surgeonfish
(Acanthurus coeruleus)
(Acanthurus coeruleus)

Doctorfish
(Acanthurus chirurgus)
(Acanthurus chirurgus)

Mimic surgeonfish
(Acanthurus pyroferus)
(Acanthurus pyroferus)

Ocean tang
(Acanthurus bahianus)
(Acanthurus bahianus)

Palelipped surgeonfish
(Acanthurus leucocheilus)
(Acanthurus leucocheilus)

Sohal surgeonfish
(Acanthurus sohal)
(Acanthurus sohal)

Yellowfin surgeonfish
(Acanthurus xanthopterus)
(Acanthurus xanthopterus)

Yellowmask surgeonfish
(Acanthurus mata)
(Acanthurus mata)
Within the same family

Bluetail unicornfish
(Naso caeruleacauda)
(Naso caeruleacauda)

Humpback unicornfish
(Naso brachycentron)
(Naso brachycentron)

Indian sailfin surgeonfish
(Zebrasoma desjardinii)
(Zebrasoma desjardinii)

Kole tang
(Ctenochaetus strigosus)
(Ctenochaetus strigosus)

Orangespine unicornfish
(Naso lituratus)
(Naso lituratus)

Paletail unicornfish
(Naso brevirostris)
(Naso brevirostris)

Palette surgeonfish
(Paracanthurus hepatus)
(Paracanthurus hepatus)

Sailfin tang
(Zebrasoma velifer)
(Zebrasoma velifer)
Discover also

European conger eel
(Conger conger)
(Conger conger)

Hooded butterflyfish
(Chaetodon larvatus)
(Chaetodon larvatus)

Longnosed stargazer
(Ichthyscopus lebeck)
(Ichthyscopus lebeck)

Lumpfish
(Cyclopterus lumpus)
(Cyclopterus lumpus)

Ocellated frogfish
(Fowlerichthys ocellatus)
(Fowlerichthys ocellatus)

Redfin emperor
(Monotaxis heterodon)
(Monotaxis heterodon)

Sailfin snapper
(Symphorichthys spilurus)
(Symphorichthys spilurus)

Sixbar wrasse
(Thalassoma hardwicke)
(Thalassoma hardwicke)
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