Bluntnose Unicornfish

About this species

Naso tonganus, the bulbnose unicornfish, hump-nosed unicornfish, humphead unicornfish, or the humpnose unicorn, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific. It is of value in commercial fisheries.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Naso tonganus”, 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: 19 records
February: 75 records
March: 69 records
April: 115 records
May: 80 records
June: 66 records
July: 51 records
August: 71 records
September: 151 records
October: 99 records
November: 61 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–25 m · Deepest record: 54 m

0–10 m: 132 records
10–20 m: 344 records
20–30 m: 131 records
30–40 m: 28 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 59 records
24–26 °C: 97 records
26–28 °C: 50 records
28–30 °C: 466 records

Photos

(c) CaracalShan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Catherine Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rohan Arthur, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Valentin Moser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bluntnose Unicornfish, Bulbnose Unicornfish, Hump-headed Unicorn-fish, Hump-head Unicornfish, Humphead Unicornfish, Hump-nose Unicorn, Humpnose unicornfish

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Pez Unicornio de Nariz Jorobada
Filipino: Isdang ilong
French: Nason Loupe, Nason loupe, Petit barbillon, Picot à deux couteaux, Petit Barbillon, Picot à Deux Couteaux
Japanese: Tosakahagi, トサカハギ
Simplified Chinese: 剝皮仔, 打鐵婆, 球吻鼻魚

Other scientific names: Naseus tonganus

Similar species

Sleek unicornfish
Naso hexacanthus
Orangespine unicornfish
Naso lituratus
Blue-spine nosefish
Naso unicornis
White margin unicornfish
Naso annulatus
Humpback unicornfish
Naso brachycentron
Spotted unicornfish
Naso 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).
973 open-data records from 1827 to 2023.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.