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Acanthurus blochii Valenciennes, 1835

Ringtail surgeonfish
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Acanthurus blochii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Acanthurus blochii (Ringtail surgeonfish)
Acanthurus blochii
Picture by Randall, J.E.

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: Valenciennes.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 15 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical; 31°N - 34°S, 25°E - 156°W

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

Indo-Pacific: East Africa, including the Mascarene Islands (Ref. 37792) to the Hawaiian and Society islands, north to Ryukyu Islands, south to Lord Howe Island.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 45.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 48637); max. reported age: 35 years (Ref. 52229)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 25 - 27; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 24 - 25. Color in life bluish grey with numerous yellowish brown spots which tend to form irregular longitudinal lines; head with narrow irregular stripes; behind eye a yellow spot; brown pectoral fins; base of caudal fin with white bar. Caudal spine large, 3 - 4.4 in head. Stomach gizzard-like. Differs from A. dussumieri by having vertical stripes instead of spots on the blue central area of the caudal fin, from A. mata by having a lunate caudal fin, and from A. xanthopterus by having plain brown to blue-grey pectoral fins (Ref. 1602). The white ring around the base of the tail varies in intensity and may occasionally be absent (Ref. 1602).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur in outer lagoon and seaward reefs, usually seen in small groups and school in some oceanic locations (Ref. 48637). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). They feed primarily on the algal film covering compacted sand, ingesting the usual component of sand which probably aids in the trituration of the algal food in the thick-walled stomach, also feed on diatoms and detritus (Ref. 3921).

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

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

Randall, J.E., 1987. Three nomenclatorial changes in Indo-Pacific surgeonfishes (Acanthurinae). Pac. Sci. 41(1-4):54-61. (Ref. 1921)

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

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Maturities
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Visual pigment(s)
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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 | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.9 - 28.8, mean 27.8 °C (based on 1800 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02042 (0.01320 - 0.03159), b=2.99 (2.87 - 3.11), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 4.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=35; K=0.25).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 47.6 [20.1, 143.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.664 [0.254, 1.601] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.9, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.0856 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 15.5 [5.3, 43.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 40.4 [9.0, 161.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 2.73 [0.85, 5.09] mg/100g (wet weight);