Pale-lipped Surgeonfish
Acanthurus leucocheilus
- Usual depth5–23 m
- Water temperature27–30 °C
- Best monthsApril and May
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Acanthurus leucocheilus, the palelipped surgeonfish or the white-spine surgeonfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes or tangs. This fish is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus leucocheilus”, 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: 50 records
- February: 61 records
- March: 46 records
- April: 135 records
- May: 83 records
- June: 70 records
- July: 38 records
- August: 30 records
- September: 10 records
- October: 10 records
- November: 9 records
- December: 23 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–23 m · Deepest record: 33.3 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 27–30 °C
Photos
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) luluchouette, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) luluchouette, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Pale-lipped Surgeonfish, Palelipped Surgeonfish, White-spine Surgeon, White-spine Surgeonfish
Names in 3 more languages
- Spanish
- Pez Cirujano Labios Pálidos
- Filipino
- Labahita
- Simplified Chinese
- 白唇刺尾鯛
Other scientific names: Acanthurus leucochilus, Acanthurus leuocheilus, Acanthurus leuococheilus, Acanthurus melanosternon
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).
- 511 open-data records from 1927 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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