Sealife guideThe orangeband surgeonfishAcanthurus olivaceus
Last updated on 09/05/2024 at 09:40 PM
Taxonomy
English names
Orangeband surgeonfish
French namesPoisson chirurgien olive à bande orangeChirurgien à épaulettesChirurgien gendarme (Polynésie)
Scientific nameAcanthurus olivaceus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
FamilyAcanthuridae
OrderAcanthuriformes
ClassActinopterygii
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 surgeonfishAcanthurus coeruleus

Japanese surgeonfishAcanthurus japonicus

Mimic surgeonfishAcanthurus pyroferus

Ocean tangAcanthurus bahianus

Palelipped surgeonfishAcanthurus leucocheilus

Powder blue tangAcanthurus leucosternon

Striped surgeonfishAcanthurus lineatus

Yellowfin surgeonfishAcanthurus xanthopterus
Within the same family

Bluetail unicornfishNaso caeruleacauda

Humpback unicornfishNaso brachycentron

Indian sailfin surgeonfishZebrasoma desjardinii

Kole tangCtenochaetus strigosus

Orangespine unicornfishNaso lituratus

Paletail unicornfishNaso brevirostris

Palette surgeonfishParacanthurus hepatus

Sailfin tangZebrasoma velifer
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