Palette surgeonfish
Paracanthurus hepatus
- Usual depth6–22 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsApril and May
- How commonOccasional
About this species
Paracanthurus hepatus is a species of Indo-Pacific surgeonfish. A popular fish in marine aquaria, it is the only member of the genus Paracanthurus.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Paracanthurus”, 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: 4 records
- February: 41 records
- March: 47 records
- April: 85 records
- May: 58 records
- June: 25 records
- July: 3 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 6 records
- October: 12 records
- November: 5 records
- December: 4 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 6–22 m · Deepest record: 35 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Palette surgeonfish, Blue Hippo Tang, Blue Surgeon, Blue Surgeonfish, Blue Tang, common surgeon, doctorfish, Dory, Dory Surgeonfish, Dory Tang, Flag-tail Surgeon-fish, Flagtail Surgeonfish, Hepatus Tang, Hippo Surgeonfish, Hippo Tang, Indo-Pacific Bluetang, Pacific Regal Blue Tang, palette surgeonfish, Palette Tang, Regal Blue Surgeonfish, Regal Blue Tang, Regal Tang, Royal Blue Tang, Wedgetail Blue Tang, Wedgetailed Blue Tang, Wedge-tailed Tang
Names in 6 more languages
- German
- Paletten-Doktorfisch
- Spanish
- Cirujano real, Pez cirujano azul, Pez Cirujano Regal
- French
- Chirurgien Bleu, Chirurgien-palette
- Japanese
- Nan-yohagi, Nanyôhagi, ナンヨウハギ
- Thai
- ปลาขี้ตังเบ็ดน้ำเงิน
- Simplified Chinese
- 擬刺尾鯛 (藍倒吊 黃尾副刺尾魚)
Other scientific names: Acanthurus hepatus, Acanthurus theuthis, Paracanthurus theuthis, Teuthis hepatus
Similar species
Eyestripe surgeonfishAcanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfishAcanthurus lineatus
BacksurgeonfishAcanthurus nigricans
Brown surgeonfishAcanthurus nigrofuscus
Bluelined surgeonfishAcanthurus nigroris
Gendarme FishAcanthurus 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).
- 733 open-data records from 1766 to 2023.
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