Ecology Summary - Acanthurus chirurgus

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Main Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967
Remarks	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. Also cleaned by Thalassoma noronhanum observed at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago off northeastern Brazil (Ref. 36301), by Elacatinus figaro observed off the coast of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil (Ref. 40102), and by Pomacanthus paru observed at the reefs of the Abrolhos Archipelago, off eastern Brazil (Ref. 40094). Predominantly inhabits forereefs (Ref. 128694). Showed selection for sand and chlorophytes (Ref. 55789). Roving herbivore (Ref. 57616). Also Ref. 33499. Exhibits facultative feeding. Group of this species was observed to be feeding on a tuna head, possibly Euthynnus sp., at a depth of 4.5 m. It is common in this diving site to see fish flesh as it's typically used in fishing and diving activities as bait to attract fish and sharks (Ref. 122732).

Main Ref.

Randall, J.E., 1967

Remarks

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. Also cleaned by Thalassoma noronhanum observed at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago off northeastern Brazil (Ref. 36301), by Elacatinus figaro observed off the coast of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil (Ref. 40102), and by Pomacanthus paru observed at the reefs of the Abrolhos Archipelago, off eastern Brazil (Ref. 40094). Predominantly inhabits forereefs (Ref. 128694). Showed selection for sand and chlorophytes (Ref. 55789). Roving herbivore (Ref. 57616). Also Ref. 33499. Exhibits facultative feeding. Group of this species was observed to be feeding on a tuna head, possibly Euthynnus sp., at a depth of 4.5 m. It is common in this diving site to see fish flesh as it's typically used in fishing and diving activities as bait to attract fish and sharks (Ref. 122732).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Acanthurus chirurgus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Hard Bottom: rocky;
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats	Coral Reefs: reef slope/drop-offs;
Special habitats Ref.	Harper, L.M., J.S. Lefcheck, R. Whippo, M.S. Jones, Z. Foltz and J.E. Duffy, 2022

Associations

Ref.
Associations
Associated with	Cleaned by Pederson's cleaner shrimp, Periclimenes pedersoni, as observed on the coral reefs in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (Ref. 36810).
Association remarks
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	plants/detritus+animals (troph. 2.2-2.79)
Feeding type Ref.
Feeding habit	grazing on aquatic plants
Feeding habit Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition	2.09	0.05	2.00	0.02	Troph of juv./adults from 2 studies.
From individual food items	2.74	0.28			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967

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