Blue-lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus mata
- Usual depth7–23 m
- Water temperature22–30 °C
- Best monthsJuly
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
Acanthurus mata, the pale surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, mata surgeonfish, striped surgeonfish, tailring surgeon, white-tail lancet or yellowmask surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus mata”, 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: 97 records
- February: 134 records
- March: 153 records
- April: 155 records
- May: 181 records
- June: 200 records
- July: 380 records
- August: 80 records
- September: 74 records
- October: 98 records
- November: 85 records
- December: 107 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 7–23 m · Deepest record: 82 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C
Photos
(c) Egor Dyukarev, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ro Hill, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Pierre Pericard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Blue-lined surgeonfish, Bleeker's Surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, Elongate surgeonfish, Mata Surgeonfish, Pale Surgeon, Pale Surgeonfish, Striped Surgeonfish, tailring surgeon, White-tail Lancet, Yellowmask Surgeonfish
Names in 7 more languages
- German
- Grauer Doktorfisch
- Spanish
- Pez Cirujano Alargado
- Filipino
- Dabahita, Labahita, Samarel, Surahan
- French
- Chirurgien, Chirurgien élancé, Chirurgien élancé, Poisson docteur à queue blanche, Chirurgien, Grand picot de récif, Picot kanak, Chirurgien pâle, Grand Picot de Récif, Picot Kanak, Poisson Docteur à Queue Blanche
- Japanese
- Hiraniza, Osuji-kurohagi, ヒラニザ
- Thai
- ปลาขี้ตังเบ็ดหน้าเหลือง
- Simplified Chinese
- 後刺尾鯛
Other scientific names: Acanthurus aurolineatus, Acanthurus bleekeri, Acanthurus weberi, Chaetodon mata, Chaetodon meta, Hepatus weberi
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).
- 1,401 open-data records from 1829 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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