Elegant Unicornfish
Naso elegans
- Usual depth6–30 m
- Water temperature26–28 °C
- Best monthsFebruary and March
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Drow_male, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
Naso elegans, the elegant unicornfish, the blonde naso tang, Indian orange-spine unicorn, lipstick surgeonfish, lipstick tang, orangespine unicornfish or smoothheaded unicornfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Naso elegans”, 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: 106 records
- February: 341 records
- March: 362 records
- April: 114 records
- May: 79 records
- June: 43 records
- July: 130 records
- August: 120 records
- September: 102 records
- October: 170 records
- November: 175 records
- December: 140 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 6–30 m · Deepest record: 36 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 26–28 °C
Photos
(c) Derek Keats, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Rose Zappa, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) bogsuckers, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Borja Fierro-Leva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Elegant Unicornfish, Indian orange-spine Unicorn, Indian Orange-spine Unicornfish, Lipstick Surgeonfish, Orange-spine unicorn, Orangespine Unicornfish, Smoothheaded Unicornfish
Names in 3 more languages
- German
- Gelbklingen-Nashornfisch, Indischer Gelbklingen-Nasendoktor
- Spanish
- Pez Unicornio Elegante
- French
- Nasique à Eperons Oranges, Nasique à éperons oranges, Nason à éperons orange de l'océan Indien, Nason à Eperons Oranges, Nason à épines oranges, Nason Bariolé
Other scientific names: Aspisurus elegans
Similar species
Sleek unicornfishNaso hexacanthus
Orangespine unicornfishNaso lituratus
Blue-spine nosefishNaso unicornis
White margin unicornfishNaso annulatus
Humpback unicornfishNaso brachycentron
Spotted unicornfishNaso brevirostris
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).
- 1,107 open-data records from 2001 to 2023.
- Species data updated November 4, 2026.
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