Twospot surgeonfish

Ctenochaetus binotatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–25 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and June
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Ctenochaetus binotatus, the twospot bristletooth or twospot surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes unicornfishes and tangs. This species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ctenochaetus binotatus”, 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: 84 records
February: 233 records
March: 378 records
April: 532 records
May: 586 records
June: 536 records
July: 209 records
August: 302 records
September: 245 records
October: 288 records
November: 193 records
December: 78 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–25 m · Deepest record: 125 m

0–10 m: 1,020 records
10–20 m: 821 records
20–30 m: 728 records
30–40 m: 84 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 67 records
26–28 °C: 202 records
28–30 °C: 430 records

Photos

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

Names and classification

English: Twospot surgeonfish, Two-spot Bristle-tooth, Two-spot Bristletooth, Twospot Bristletooth, Two-spot bristletooth surgeonfish, twospot surgeonfish, Two-spot Surgeonfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Blauaugen-Borstenzahn-Doktorfisch, Zweifleck-Borstenzahn-Doktorfisch
Spanish: Pez Cirujano de Dos Puntos
Filipino: Labahita
French: Chirurgien à deux points, Chirurgien à deux taches
Japanese: Kokuten-sazanamihagi, Kokutensazanamihagi, コクテンサザナミハギ
Simplified Chinese: 雙斑櫛齒刺尾鯛

Other scientific names: Ctenochaetus oculocoeruleus

Similar species

Lined bristletooth
Ctenochaetus striatus
Spotted surgeonfish
Ctenochaetus strigosus
Orange-tip Bristletooth
Ctenochaetus tominiensis
Eyestripe surgeonfish
Acanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus lineatus
Backsurgeonfish
Acanthurus nigricans

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).
4,673 open-data records from 1908 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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