Thompson's surgeonfish

Acanthurus thompsoni

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth8–25 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsMarch and April
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Roger Rittmaster · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Acanthurus thompsoni, the night surgeonfish, chocolate surgeonfish, Thompson's surgeonfish, Thompson's tang or whitetail surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acanthurus thompsoni”, 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: 58 records
February: 423 records
March: 849 records
April: 784 records
May: 481 records
June: 447 records
July: 315 records
August: 241 records
September: 145 records
October: 134 records
November: 94 records
December: 54 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 8–25 m · Deepest record: 70.1 m

0–10 m: 457 records
10–20 m: 1,603 records
20–30 m: 1,400 records
30–40 m: 101 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 109 records
26–28 °C: 234 records
28–30 °C: 498 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, 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) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Thompson's surgeonfish, Chocolate Surgeonfish, Night Surgeon, Night Surgeonfish, Thompson's Surgeonfish, Chocolate surgeonfish, Thompson's Tang, Whitetail Surgeonfish

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Pez Cirujano de Thompson
Filipino: Labahita
French: Chirurgien à Queue Blanche, Chirurgien de Thompson
Japanese: Ohagurohagi, オハグロハギ
Simplified Chinese: 黃尾刺尾鯛

Other scientific names: Acanthurus philippinus, Hepatus philippinus, Hepatus thompsoni, Teuthis thompsoni

Similar species

Eyestripe surgeonfish
Acanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus lineatus
Backsurgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricans
Brown surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigrofuscus
Bluelined surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigroris
Gendarme Fish
Acanthurus 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).
4,186 open-data records from 1923 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist