Atlantic Blue Tang
Acanthurus coeruleus
Palette surgeonfish
Paracanthurus hepatus
About
Easy to spot and hard to forget, the palette surgeonfish is one of the most photographed fish on the reef. It grows to about 31 cm and, despite its popularity in aquariums, stays fairly rare and patchy in the wild.
Also known as: paracanthurus hepatus, blue surgeonfish, blue tang, dory, flagtail surgeonfish, hepatus tang, indo-pacific bluetang, palette surgeon, regal blue surgeonfish, surgeonfish, wedge-tailed tang, wedgetail blue tang
- Length
- 31 cm
- Depth
- 10–40 m
How to tell it apart
Its royal-blue body can look similar to other blue reef fish at a glance, but the tail settles it: look for the yellow triangle outlined in black on an otherwise blue fish. No other fish on an Indo-Pacific reef combines that exact blue body with a black-edged yellow tail.
Appearance
This fish has a bright royal-blue body marked with a broad black area across its back. That black area wraps around toward the pectoral (side) fin, forming an oval blue patch on each side that points up toward the eye. The tail fin is different again: a bright yellow triangle sits in the middle, bordered above and below by the same black seen on the back.
Is it dangerous?
venomous
Did you know?
This is the only species in its whole genus, Paracanthurus - there is no other fish quite like it, even among its close relatives.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
