Chocolate surgeonfish

About this species

Acanthurus pyroferus, also known as the chocolate surgeonfish, mimic surgeonfish, orange-gilled surgeonfish, Pacific mimic surgeon, and yellowspot surgeon, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, which includes the sugeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus pyroferus”, 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: 107 records
February: 258 records
March: 358 records
April: 748 records
May: 518 records
June: 604 records
July: 317 records
August: 167 records
September: 292 records
October: 588 records
November: 176 records
December: 97 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 7–24 m · Deepest record: 747 m

0–10 m: 509 records
10–20 m: 1,468 records
20–30 m: 819 records
30–40 m: 11 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 25–30 °C

24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 45 records
28–30 °C: 572 records

Photos

(c) marisnocatpiss, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Chocolate surgeonfish, chocolate surgeonfish, Fire Surgeonfish, Mimic Surgeon, Mimic Surgeonfish, Mimic Tang, Orange-gilled Surgeonfish, Pacific Mimic Surgeon, Yellowspot Surgeon, yellowspot surgeonfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Pazifischer Mimikry-Doktorfisch
Spanish: Pez Cirujano Imitador
Filipino: Dabahita, Labahita, Saging-saging, Samarel
French: Chirurgien de feu, Chirurgien rose, Chirurgien porteur de feu, Chirurgien Rose
Japanese: Kuroguchiniza, クログチニザ
Thai: ปลาขี้ตังเบ็ดปากขาว
Simplified Chinese: 倒吊, 火紅刺尾鯛

Other scientific names: Acanthurus armiger, Acanthurus celebicus, Acanthurus fuscus, Hepatus celebicus, Hepatus pyriferus, Hepatus pyroferus, Rhombotides celebicus

Similar species

Japanese Surgeonfish
Acanthurus japonicus

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).
4,179 open-data records from 1822 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.