Whitespotted surgeonfish
Acanthurus guttatus
- Usual depth3–12 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, May, and July
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Don Loarie · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Acanthurus guttatus, the whitespotted surgeonfish, spotted surgeonfish, mustard surgeonfish, mustard tang or spotband surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes or tangs. It is found in shallow waters on reefs in the Indo-Pacific.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus guttatus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 49 records
- February: 100 records
- March: 137 records
- April: 227 records
- May: 168 records
- June: 142 records
- July: 166 records
- August: 114 records
- September: 111 records
- October: 115 records
- November: 60 records
- December: 43 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–12 m · Deepest record: 38 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Neal Kelso, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Mike Bowie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Oliver Stringham, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) nick_goldwater, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Loïc Mathieu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Whitespotted surgeonfish, Mustard Surgeonfish, Mustard Tang, Spotband Surgeonfish, Spotted Surgeonfish, Spotted Tang, White-spotted Surgeon, whitespotted surgeonfish, White-spotted Surgeonfish
Names in 5 more languages
- Spanish
- Pez Cirujano de Puntos Blancos
- Filipino
- Labahita, Surahan
- French
- Chirurgien moucheté, Chirurgien-pintade
- Japanese
- Gomaniza, ゴマニザ
- Simplified Chinese
- 斑點刺尾鯛
Other scientific names: Harpurus guttatus, Hepatus guttatus, Rhombotides guttatus, Teuthis guttatus, Zabrasoma guttatus
Similar species
Eyestripe surgeonfishAcanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfishAcanthurus lineatus
BacksurgeonfishAcanthurus nigricans
Brown surgeonfishAcanthurus nigrofuscus
Bluelined surgeonfishAcanthurus nigroris
Gendarme FishAcanthurus olivaceus
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).
- 971 open-data records from 1801 to 2019.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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