Twotone tang
Zebrasoma scopas
- Usual depth4–20 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, March, and October
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: (c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Zebrasoma scopas, the brown tang, twotone tang, scopas tang or brush-tail tang, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. The brown tang is found throughout Oceania and is a herbivorous fish, feeding predominantly on filamentous algae. It is a highly popular fish in the aquarium trade.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Zebrasoma scopas”, 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: 305 records
- February: 1,181 records
- March: 996 records
- April: 786 records
- May: 415 records
- June: 695 records
- July: 973 records
- August: 738 records
- September: 709 records
- October: 1,199 records
- November: 598 records
- December: 213 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–20 m · Deepest record: 150 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Twotone tang, Bluelined Sailfin Tang, Blue-lined Tang, Brown Sailfin Surgeonfish, Brown Sailfin Tang, Brown sailfish surgeonfish, Brown sailing tang, Brown Tang, Brushtail Surgeonfish, Twotone tang, Brushtail Tang, Scopas Tang, Sombre Surgeon-fish, Two-tone Surgeon, Two-tone Surgeonfish, twotone tang, Yellow sailfin tang
Names in 7 more languages
- German
- Brauner Segeldoktorfish, Brauner Segelflossen-Doktor, Weißdorn-Segelflossendoktor
- Spanish
- Pez Cirujano Café
- French
- Chirurgien à balai, Chirurgien à Brosses, Chirurgien à Robe Sombre, Chirurgien balai, Chirurgien balai, Chirurgien à robe sombre, Chirurgien Brun, Chirurgien-voile brun, Chirurgien voile brune
- Indonesian
- Burung laut
- Japanese
- Gomahagi, ゴマハギ
- Thai
- ปลาขี้ตังเบ็ดดำ
- Simplified Chinese
- 小高鰭刺尾鯛
Other scientific names: Acanthurus altivelis, Acanthurus ruppelii, Acanthurus scopas, Acanthurus suillus, Zebrasoma scopes, Zebrasoma scopoas, Zebrasoma supraalba
Similar species
- Yellow tang
Zebrasoma flavescens
- sailfin surgeonfish
Zebrasoma velifer
Eyestripe surgeonfishAcanthurus dussumieri
Lined surgeonfishAcanthurus lineatus
BacksurgeonfishAcanthurus nigricans
Brown surgeonfishAcanthurus nigrofuscus
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).
- 10,836 open-data records from 1829 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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