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and the dorsal and anal fins, do not develop until the larvae have reached 2–6 mm in length. The "scalpel" does not appear until they are about 13 mm long. As the "scalpel" grows, the anal and dorsal
889:
928:
653:"Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE"
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shrink. Once the fish reaches around 25 mm in length, it moves to the bottom where it continues to grow, eventually reaching
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445:. Its teeth are specially shaped for scraping algae and plant matter from rocks. Because it swallows its food whole, it has a
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in the intestine filled with particles of sand which help to grind food before it starts the digestive process.
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475:. They are laterally compressed and diamond-shaped with large eyes and pectoral fins. Many body parts, such as
323:
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341:
The doctorfish tang reaches a maximum size of 39 centimetres (15 in) and 5.1 kilograms (11 lb).
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is less than a millimeter in diameter and contains a small amount of oil for flotation. The translucent,
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are blue. There is also a faint blue ring that can be seen encircling the "scalpel" on either side.
262:, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. These fishes are found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
987:
412:, and the tropical west coast of Africa, although the African records may be misidentifications of
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to dark brown. 10 to 12 vertical bars are always present, but often faint. The edges of the
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333:, these also gave rise to the common names surgeonfish and doctorfish.
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Christopher
Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 January 2021).
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357:. The "scalpel" is used during fights with other doctorfish and as a
329:, meaning "surgeon", an allusion to the sharp scalpel-like spines on
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714:
https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Acanthurus_chirurgus.pdf
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438:
418:. It has been recorded twice recently (2012, 2016) in the central
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712:). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.
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741:
508:
Rocha, L.A.; Myers, R.; Abesamis, R.; et al. (2012).
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This species is typically found among rocky outcrops and
392:. It has only been documented a limited number of times.
739:
384:
There is a black morph, as well, but it is neither a
626:
J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016).
771:
459:occurs during evening hours in a group event. Each
590:; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.).
708:Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (
657:The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database
404:. Its distribution includes the Atlantic from
8:
734:Marinebio.org. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
533:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T177982A1510626.en
365:. Its coloration generally varies from blue-
659:. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara
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195:
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630:(5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502.
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353:", which are found on either side of the
270:The doctorfish tang was first formally
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7:
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307:which is one of three tribes in the
983:IUCN Red List least concern species
519:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
303:is one of two genera in the tribe
14:
73:
606:California Academy of Sciences
1:
993:Fish of the Western Atlantic
322:The doctorfish tang has the
737:Humann, P. and N. Deloach.
349:for the structures called "
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433:spends its daylight hours
251:, is a species of marine
471:hatch within 24 hours of
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203:
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70:Scientific classification
68:
46:
37:
28:
23:
1013:Marine fish of Nicaragua
562:; Pauly, Daniel (eds.).
488:in roughly nine months.
1003:Fish described in 1787
684:"Acanthurus chirurgus"
592:"Species in the genus
278:in 1787 by the German
222:Acanthurus phlebotomus
755:on Sealife Collection
588:Eschmeyer, William N.
526:: e.T177982A1510626.
247:), also known as the
817:Acanthurus_chirurgus
803:Acanthurus chirurgus
773:Acanthurus chirurgus
730:Acanthurus chirurgus
710:Acanthurus chirurgus
576:. June 2023 version.
566:Acanthurus chirurgus
512:Acanthurus chirurgus
431:Acanthurus chirurgus
415:Acanthurus monroviae
343:Acanthurus chirurgus
287:Marcus Elieser Bloch
244:Acanthurus chirurgus
179:Acanthurus chirurgus
998:Fish of West Africa
628:Fishes of the World
276:Chaetodon chirurgus
214:Chaetodon chirurgus
40:Conservation status
970:
969:
765:Taxon identifiers
637:978-1-118-34233-6
601:Catalog of Fishes
420:Mediterranean Sea
396:Range and habitat
359:defense mechanism
255:belonging to the
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161:A. chirurgus
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24:Doctorfish tang
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753:Doctorfish tang
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723:Further reading
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688:Discover Fishes
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486:sexual maturity
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388:nor a regional
355:caudal peduncle
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331:caudal peduncle
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253:ray-finned fish
239:doctorfish tang
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127:Acanthuriformes
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17:
16:Species of fish
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746:External links
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560:Froese, Rainer
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473:fertilization
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170:Binomial name
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55:Least Concern
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692:. Retrieved
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661:. Retrieved
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537:. Retrieved
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441:and organic
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312:Acanthurinae
298:
297:. The genus
275:
269:
260:Acanthuridae
248:
243:
242:
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226:Valenciennes
221:
217:Bloch, 1787
213:
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137:Acanthuridae
18:
877:iNaturalist
797:Wikispecies
694:9 September
663:9 September
611:9 September
402:coral reefs
347:common name
337:Description
305:Acanthurini
988:Acanthurus
977:Categories
751:Photos of
594:Acanthurus
539:3 December
492:References
386:subspecies
300:Acanthurus
295:Martinique
284:naturalist
249:doctorfish
148:Acanthurus
379:anal fins
363:predators
345:gets its
327:chirurgus
318:Etymology
309:subfamily
293:given as
289:with its
280:physician
272:described
155:Species:
93:Kingdom:
87:Eukaryota
895:10153276
851:FishBase
788:Q2355866
782:Wikidata
573:FishBase
465:plankton
457:Spawning
443:detritus
426:Behavior
390:mutation
361:against
351:scalpels
266:Taxonomy
205:Synonyms
133:Family:
107:Chordata
103:Phylum:
97:Animalia
83:Domain:
60:IUCN 3.1
869:5209174
447:gizzard
435:grazing
228:, 1835
189:, 1787)
143:Genus:
123:Order:
113:Class:
58: (
960:159580
947:159580
921:177982
908:172253
882:121195
634:
482:spines
477:scales
469:larvae
467:-like
449:-like
410:Brazil
377:, and
375:dorsal
371:caudal
257:family
955:WoRMS
934:51758
890:IRMNG
830:23580
451:organ
439:algae
187:Bloch
942:OBIS
929:NCBI
916:IUCN
903:ITIS
864:GBIF
843:92MG
825:BOLD
696:2023
665:2023
632:ISBN
613:2023
541:2022
524:2012
367:gray
282:and
237:The
856:943
838:CoL
812:ADW
528:doi
461:egg
437:on
408:to
274:as
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241:(
185:(
62:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
