Eyestripe surgeonfish

Acanthurus dussumieri

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–24 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Acanthurus dussumieri, commonly known as Dussumier's surgeonfish, the eye-stripe surgeonfish or the ornate surgeonfish, is a ray-finned fish from the Indo-Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a maximum length of 54 cm (21 in) but 35 cm (14 in) is a more usual size.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus dussumieri”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 120 records
February: 178 records
March: 252 records
April: 310 records
May: 231 records
June: 349 records
July: 435 records
August: 592 records
September: 443 records
October: 500 records
November: 223 records
December: 117 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–24 m · Deepest record: 118 m

0–10 m: 589 records
10–20 m: 1,065 records
20–30 m: 419 records
30–40 m: 58 records
40–50 m: 10 records
50–60 m: 10 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 324 records
26–28 °C: 26 records
28–30 °C: 28 records

Photos

no rights reserved, uploaded by Scott Loarie · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Annika Lindqvist, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Annika Lindqvist · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Cos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Crowcroft, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa_James, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Patrick Connolly, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Andrew Parker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Eyestripe surgeonfish, Dussumier's Surgeonfish, eyestripe surgeonfish, Hawaiian Surgeonfish, Ornate Surgeonfish, Palani, Penciled Surgeonfish, Pencilled Surgeon, Pencilled Surgeonfish

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Navajón Coronado
French: Chirurgien à Lunettes Jaunes, Chirurgien couronné, Chirurgien de Duss, Chirurgien de Duss, Picot kanak, Chirurgien de Dussumier, Picot Kanak
Japanese: Nise-kanranhagi, Nisekanranhagi, ニセカンランハギ

Other scientific names: Acanthurus dussumiere, Acanthurus dussumierri, Acanthurus lamarrii, Acanthurus undulatus, Hepatus dussumieri, Rhombotides dussumieri, Rhombotides lamarrii, Teuthis dussumieri

Similar species

Lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus lineatus
Backsurgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricans
Brown surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigrofuscus
Bluelined surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigroris
Gendarme Fish
Acanthurus olivaceus
Convict surgeonfish
Acanthurus triostegus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
3,527 open-data records from 1835 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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