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Acanthurus chirurgus (Bloch, 1787)

Doctorfish
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Acanthurus chirurgus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Acanthurus chirurgus
Picture by Patzner, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes) > Acanthurinae
Etymology: Acanthurus: Greek, akantha = thorn + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bloch.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 25 m (Ref. 7345), usually 2 - 15 m (Ref. 27115). Subtropical; 22°C - 25°C (Ref. 27115); 43°N - 30°S, 98°W - 14°W (Ref. 55164)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Massachusetts (USA), Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico to São Paulo, Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: Senegal.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 17 - ? cm
Max length : 39.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 47377); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 5.1 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 24 - 25; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 22 - 23. Caudal fin slightly emarginate (Ref. 13442). Body gray, with 10 well-spaced, narrow, darker gray vertical bars on side (Ref. 26938).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits shallow reefs or rocky areas. Found in loose aggregations (Ref. 9710). Mainly diurnal. Ingests sand when feeding on algae (Ref. 13442). The spine on both sides of the caudal peduncle may inflict painful wounds (Ref. 5217). Minimum depth reported from Ref. 27115. Larvae are planktonic (Ref. 47377). At Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in southwestern Atlantic, juveniles hold cleaning stations together with the blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) and sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis) and graze algae as well as pick molted skin and parasites from green turtles (Chelonia mydas). This behavior is preceded by a characteristic inspection usually followed by feeding nips on the turtles’ skin (head, limbs, and tail), as well as on the carapace. The most inspected and cleaned body parts are the flippers (Ref. 51385).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Randall, John E. | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 03 May 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 5217)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
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Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Visual pigment(s)
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Genetics
Genetics
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 26.1 - 28, mean 27.4 °C (based on 769 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02188 (0.01789 - 0.02676), b=2.95 (2.91 - 2.99), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.1   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.25-0.50).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (23 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 39.8 [15.6, 133.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.822 [0.286, 2.182] mg/100g; Protein = 19.1 [17.8, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.146 [0.063, 0.347] g/100g; Selenium = 8.83 [2.71, 27.87] μg/100g; VitaminA = 17.5 [3.7, 82.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.78 [0.55, 3.61] mg/100g (wet weight);