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)

Japanese surgeonfish
(Acanthurus japonicus)
(Acanthurus japonicus)

Ocean tang
(Acanthurus bahianus)
(Acanthurus bahianus)

Powder blue tang
(Acanthurus leucosternon)
(Acanthurus leucosternon)

Sohal surgeonfish
(Acanthurus sohal)
(Acanthurus sohal)

Striped surgeonfish
(Acanthurus lineatus)
(Acanthurus lineatus)

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

Banded snake eel
(Myrichthys colubrinus)
(Myrichthys colubrinus)

Damselfish
(Chromis chromis)
(Chromis chromis)

Guineafowl puffer
(Arothron meleagris)
(Arothron meleagris)

Red sea anthias
(Pseudanthias taeniatus)
(Pseudanthias taeniatus)

Saddled butterflyfish
(Chaetodon ephippium)
(Chaetodon ephippium)

Sammara squirrelfish
(Neoniphon sammara)
(Neoniphon sammara)

Speckledfin grouper
(Epinephelus ongus)
(Epinephelus ongus)

Zebra moray
(Gymnomuraena zebra)
(Gymnomuraena zebra)
Our latestUpdates

Wednesday, August 19th 2026
The Fiji islands
Discover Fiji, a South Pacific island nation known for white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons, coral reefs, tropical forests and traditional villages.

Friday, August 14th 2026
The reef manta ray
Discover the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), an impressive tropical ray that frequents coral reefs and feeds mainly on plankton.

Wednesday, August 12th 2026
The crown-of-thorns starfish
Discover the crown-of-thorns starfish, a voracious coral predator that, when populations become unusually large, can consume vast areas of coral and cause significant damage to coral reefs.
Photo of the Day

Poisson chirurgien rayé
(Acanthurus lineatus)
(Acanthurus lineatus)
