Epaulette surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricauda
- Usual depth4–23 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and September
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) François Libert, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
Acanthurus nigricauda, the epaulette surgeonfish, black-barred surgeonfish, eye-line surgeonfish, shoulderbar surgeonfish, white-tail surgeonfish or blackstreak surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus nigricauda”, 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: 90 records
- February: 306 records
- March: 327 records
- April: 233 records
- May: 200 records
- June: 124 records
- July: 176 records
- August: 225 records
- September: 259 records
- October: 230 records
- November: 159 records
- December: 163 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–23 m · Deepest record: 43 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Darren Obbard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Andrew Allen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Epaulette surgeonfish, Black-barred Surgeonfish, Blackstreak Surgeonfish, Blackstreak Surgeonfish, Epaulette surgeonfish, epaulette surgeonfish, Shoulderbar Surgeonfish, White-tail Surgeonfish
Names in 2 more languages
- French
- Chirurgien à marque noire, Chirurgien à Queue Blanche
- Japanese
- Kuromontsuki, クロモンツキ
Other scientific names: Acanthurus nigricauada, Acanthurus nigricaudus
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).
- 2,745 open-data records from 1929 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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