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Acanthurus triostegus (Linnaeus, 1758)
CONVICT SURGEONFISH
Convict Surgeon; Convict Surgeon-fish; Five-banded Surgeon-fish; Rhombotides triostegus Linnaeus, 1758; Teuthis triostegus Linnaeus, 1758; Teuthis australis Gray, 1827; Chaetodon triostegus Linnaeus, 1758; Convict tang

Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Acanthuridae   Acanthurus



Acanthurus triostegus triostegus
© Copyright Ross Robertson, 2006 · 12
Acanthurus triostegus triostegus

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Acanthurus triostegus triostegus
© Copyright Gerald Allen, 2006 · 0
Acanthurus triostegus triostegus

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Overview
Main identification features
  • pale green + 6 thin black bars
Dorsal rays IX, 22-26; anal rays III, 19-22; pectoral rays 15-16; gill rakers on first arch 18-22; body depth 1.8-2.0 in standard length; caudal spine relatively small, about 10 in head; tail fin slightly concave.

Overall whitish to light greenish grey with six narrow black bars on head and body.

Maximum size, 27 cm.

Often seen in aggregations that graze on algae over rocky or coral reefs in 1-10 m; common around offshore islands, the young often occur in tide pools.

Depth: 0-90 m.

Widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Americas; known in the eastern Pacific from the mouth of the Gulf of California to Ecuador and all the oceanic islands.


Attributes

Abundance: Common.

Cites: Not listed.

Climate Zone: Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap); Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos); Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).

Depth Range Max: 90 m.

Depth Range Min: 0 m.

Diet: benthic microalgae.

Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=25; Southern limit=-2; Western limit=-115; Eastern limit=-78; Latitudinal range=27; Longitudinal range=37.

Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.

Feeding Group: Herbivore.

FishBase Habitat: Reef Associated.

Global Endemism: Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.

Habitat: Corals; Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Rocks; Reef (rock &/or coral); Reef only.

Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.

IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.

Length Max: 27 cm.

Regional Endemism: Island (s); Continent; Continent + Island (s); Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; All species.

Residency: Resident.

Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.

Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;

Names
Scientific source:
Links to other sites


References
  • Allen , G.R. and Robertson, D.R., 1994., Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific., Crawford House Press Pty Ltd:1-332.
  • Allen , G.R. and Robertson, D.R., 1997., An Annotated Checklist of the fishes of Clipperton Atoll, Tropical Eastern Pacific., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 45:813-843.
  • Brock, V.E., 1943., Distributional notes on the fishes of Lower California and the West Coast of Mexico II., Copeia, 1943(2):130-131.
  • Castro-Aguirre , J. L. , Balart , E. F. and Arvizu-Martínez, J., 1995., Contribución al conocimiento del origen y distribución de la ictiofauna del Golfo de California, México., Hidrobiologica, 5:57-78.
  • Castro-Aguirre, J.L. and Balart, E.F., 2002., La ictiofauna de las islas Revillagigedos y sus relaciones zoogeograficas, con comentarios acerca de su origen y evolucion. En: Lozano-Vilano, M. L. (Ed.). Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas., Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León:153-170.
  • Findley, L.T., Hendrickx, M.E., Brusca, R.C., van der Heiden, A.M., Hastings, P.A., Torre, J., 2003., Diversidad de la Macrofauna Marina del Golfo de California, Mexico., CD-ROM versión 1.0. Projecto de la Macrofauna del Golfo .  Derechos reservados de los autores y Conservación Internacional.
  • Fischer , W. , Krup , F. , Schneider , W. , Sommer , C. , Carpenter , K. E. and Niem, V. H., 1995., Guia FAO para la Identificacion de Especies de para los fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Volumen II. Vertebrados - Parte 1., FAO2:647-1200.
  • Galván-Magaña, F., Abitia-Cárdenas, L.A., Rodríguez-Romero, J., Pérez-España, H., Chávez-Ramos, H., 1996., Systematics list of the fishes from Cerralvo island, Baja California Sur, Mexico., Ciencias Marinas, 22:295-311.
  • Humann, P., 1993., Reef Fish Identification: Galapagos., New World Publishing:192pp.
  • Jordan , and McGregor,., 1898., List of fishes collected at the Revillagigedo archipelago and neighboring islands., Rept. U.S. Fisheries Comm., 24:271-284.
  • Linnaeus, C., 1758., Systema Naturae, Ed. X. (Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.) Holmiae., Systema Nat. ed. 10, 1:1-824.
  • Lopez , M. I. and Bussing, W. A., 1982., Lista provisional de los peces marinos de la Costa Rica., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 30(1):5-26.
  • Love, M.S., Mecklenburg, C.W., Mecklenburg, T.A., Thorsteinson, L.K., 2005., es of the West Coast and Alaska: a checklist of North Pacific and Artic Ocena species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border., U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, 288pp.
  • Madrid Vera , J. , Ruíz Luna , A. and Rosado Bravo, I., 1998., Peces de la plataforma continental de Michoacán y sus relaciones regionales en el Pacífico mexicano., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 42(2):267-276.
  • Ricker, K.E., 1959., Fishes collected from the Revillagigedo Islands during the 1954-1958 cruises of the "Marijean."., Univ. Brit. Columbia Inst. Fish., Mus. Contrib., 4:10pp.
  • Ricker, K.E., 1959., Mexican shore and pelagic fishes collected from Acapulco to Cape San Lucas during the 1957 cruise of the "Marijean"., Univ. Brit. Columbia Inst. Fish., Mus. Contrib., 3:18pp.
  • Robertson , D.R. and Allen, G.A., 1996., Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll., Coral Reefs, 15:121-131.
  • Rosenblatt , R.H. , McCosker , J.E. and Rubinoff, I., 1972., Indo-west Pacific fishes from the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama., Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 234:18pp.
  • Smith , M. M. and Heemstra, P., 1986., Smith's Sea Fishes. Johannesburg: Macmillan South Africa. 1047 pp., Macmillan South Africa:1047pp.
  • Sánchez Ortíz , C. , Arreola Robles , J. L. , Aburto Oropeza , O. and Cortés Hernández, M., 1997., Peces de arrecife en la región de La Paz, B.C.S.. En Urbán Ramírez, J. y M. Ramírez Rodríguez (Eds.). La Bahía de La Paz investigación y conservación., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur:189-200.
  • Thomson , D.A. , Findley , L.T. and Kerstitch, A.N., 2000., Reef fishes of the Sea of Cortez., University of Texas Press(Revised Ed.):353.
  • Van der Heiden , A. M. and Findley, L. T., 1988., Lista de los peces marinos del sur de Sinaloa, México., Anales del Centro de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico, 15:209-224.
  • Vega, A.J., Villareal, N., 2003., Peces asociados a arrecifes y manglares en el Parque Nacional Coiba., Tecnociencia, 5:65-76.
  • Villareal-Cavazos, A., Reyes-Bonilla, H., Bermúdez-Almada, B. and Arizpe-Covarrubias, O., 2000., Los peces del arrecife de Cabo Pulmo, Golfo de California, México: Lista sistemática y aspectos de abundancia y biogeografía., Rev. Biol. Trop., 48:413-424.
  • Walker, B. W. and Baldwin, W. J., 1964., Provisional check list of fishes of the Revillagigedo islands., 18 pp.


Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


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