Brown surgeonfish

Acanthurus nigrofuscus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–22 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsApril, August, and September
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Rickard Zerpe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Acanthurus nigrofuscus, the brown surgeonfish, blackspot surgeonfish, brown tang, dusky surgeon, lavender tang or spot-cheeked surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornishes and tangs. This species is a common and abundant fish occurring across a wide Indo-Pacific range.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus nigrofuscus”, 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: 421 records
February: 1,830 records
March: 2,356 records
April: 4,284 records
May: 2,441 records
June: 2,566 records
July: 2,780 records
August: 3,170 records
September: 3,364 records
October: 2,967 records
November: 949 records
December: 353 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–22 m · Deepest record: 217.6 m

0–10 m: 8,727 records
10–20 m: 10,633 records
20–30 m: 3,238 records
30–40 m: 60 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 7 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 309 records
26–28 °C: 84 records
28–30 °C: 369 records

Photos

no rights reserved, uploaded by Jesse Rorabaugh · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Meghan Cassidy, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Meghan Cassidy · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Shelomi Doyle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ajott, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rolf Lawrenz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alie / C.A. Kratzer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Brown surgeonfish, Blackspot Surgeonfish, Brown surgeon, brown surgeonfish, Brown Surgeonfish, Dusky Surgeon, Dusky Surgeonfish, Lavender Surgeonfish, Lavender Tang, Spot-cheeked Surgeonfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Brauner Doktorfisch
Spanish: Pez Cirujano Marrón
Filipino: Surahan
French: Chirurgien brun, Chirurgien brun-noir
Japanese: Naganiza, ナガニザ
Simplified Chinese: 褐斑刺尾鯛

Other scientific names: Acanthurus fuliginosus, Acanthurus lineolatus, Acanthurus matoides, Acanthurus rubropunctatus, Acronurus lineolatus, Chaetodon nigrofuscus, Ctenodon rubropunctatus, Hepatus fuliginosus, Hepatus lineolatus, Hepatus lucillae, Teuthis lucillae

Similar species

Eyestripe surgeonfish
Acanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus lineatus
Backsurgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricans
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).
34,339 open-data records from 1775 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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