Sealife guideThe orangeband surgeonfishAcanthurus olivaceus
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.
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

Palelipped surgeonfish
(Acanthurus leucocheilus)
(Acanthurus leucocheilus)

Yellowfin surgeonfish
(Acanthurus xanthopterus)
(Acanthurus xanthopterus)

Black-spot surgeonfish
(Acanthurus bariene)
(Acanthurus bariene)

Powder blue tang
(Acanthurus leucosternon)
(Acanthurus leucosternon)

Ocean tang
(Acanthurus bahianus)
(Acanthurus bahianus)

Yellowmask surgeonfish
(Acanthurus mata)
(Acanthurus mata)

Mimic surgeonfish
(Acanthurus pyroferus)
(Acanthurus pyroferus)

Sohal surgeonfish
(Acanthurus sohal)
(Acanthurus sohal)
Within the same family

Humpback unicornfish
(Naso brachycentron)
(Naso brachycentron)

Orangespine unicornfish
(Naso lituratus)
(Naso lituratus)

Bluetail unicornfish
(Naso caeruleacauda)
(Naso caeruleacauda)

Paletail unicornfish
(Naso brevirostris)
(Naso brevirostris)

Kole tang
(Ctenochaetus strigosus)
(Ctenochaetus strigosus)

Sailfin tang
(Zebrasoma velifer)
(Zebrasoma velifer)

Indian sailfin surgeonfish
(Zebrasoma desjardinii)
(Zebrasoma desjardinii)

Palette surgeonfish
(Paracanthurus hepatus)
(Paracanthurus hepatus)
Explore also

Bar jack
(Caranx ruber)
(Caranx ruber)

Randall's prawn goby
(Amblyeleotris randalli)
(Amblyeleotris randalli)

Great barracuda
(Sphyraena barracuda)
(Sphyraena barracuda)

Red hind
(Epinephelus guttatus)
(Epinephelus guttatus)

Double barred rabbitfish
(Siganus virgatus)
(Siganus virgatus)

Sheepshead
(Archosargus probatocephalus)
(Archosargus probatocephalus)

Sergeant major
(Abudefduf saxatilis)
(Abudefduf saxatilis)

Bigeye tuna
(Thunnus obesus)
(Thunnus obesus)
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