Convict surgeonfish

Acanthurus triostegus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–15 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsApril and September
How commonCommon

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Acanthurus triostegus, commonly known as convict tang, manini, convict surgeonfish, convict surgeon, or fiveband 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 triostegus”, 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: 506 records
February: 555 records
March: 968 records
April: 2,336 records
May: 1,129 records
June: 703 records
July: 1,189 records
August: 1,753 records
September: 3,161 records
October: 1,683 records
November: 684 records
December: 390 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–15 m · Deepest record: 112.5 m

0–10 m: 5,468 records
10–20 m: 2,074 records
20–30 m: 286 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 8 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
110–120 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 50 records
24–26 °C: 283 records
26–28 °C: 80 records
28–30 °C: 80 records

Photos

(c) Zack Abbey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) rjtizard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) natomik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Dylan Leonard, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Convict surgeonfish, Banded Surgeon, convictfish, Convict Surgeon, convict surgeonfish, Convict Surgeon-fish, Convict Surgeonfish, convict tang, Five-banded Surgeon-fish, Fiveband Surgeonfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Gitter-Doktorfisch
Spanish: Cirujano Convicto, Cirujano Rayado, cirujano reo, Lancero Convicto, Sangrador Carcelario
Filipino: Labahita
French: Chirurgien à raies noires, Chirurgien bagnard, Chirurgien Zèbre
Japanese: Shimahagi, シマハギ
Simplified Chinese: 綠刺尾鯛

Other scientific names: Acanthurus hirudo, Acanthurus hirundo, Acanthurus pentazona, Acanthurus sandvicensis, Acanthurus subarmatus, Acanthurus triastegus, Acanthurus triostegust, Acanthurus zebra, Chaetodon couaga, Chaetodon triostegus, Harpurus fasciatus, Hepatus sandvicensis, Hepatus triostegus, Rhombotides pentazona, Rhombotides triostegus, Teuthis australis, Teuthis elegans, Teuthis sandvicensis, Teuthis triostegus, Teuthis troughtoni

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).
14,644 open-data records from 1758 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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