Surgeonfishes, tangs and unicornfishes in captivity

vogelcommando

vogelcommando

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Again a thread about a group of marinefishes, this time a complete family ! The family Acanthuridae - Surgeonfishes, tangs and unicornfishes - contains 82 species and are a well-known and well-represented group in both privat and public aquariums.
I discovered however that searching this family on ZooChat proofed to be quite difficult because:
- many species are represented in the Gallery without scientific name ( yes I also am guilty on this :( ! ).
- many species have more then one ( commonly used ) name.
- many photos in the Gallery are not identified ( or identified wrong / incomplete ).
- many species can have different colors, depending on age and mood.
Therefor I hope again on the help of other ZooChatters for any help and advise to make this list as complete as possible and because only a inventory of European collections is avaible ( Zootierliste ) I hope also that ZooChatters from other regions ( America, Asia and Australia ) can provide more information about the species kept in these areas.

Lets start with the species-list ( will be in several parts because of the size of the family ) :

1) Acanthurus achilles - Achilles tang : Kept at 17 European collections and several photos of this species can be found in the Gallery like this one from Hix : Achilles Tang (Acanthurus achilles) | ZooChat
2) Acanthurus albipectoralis - Whitefin surgeonfish : Didn't found any information about any kept at public collections in Europe and also in the ZooChat-gallery I didn't found any pictures of this species.
3) Acanthurus auranticavus - Orange-socket surgeonfish'Rarely kept species, at the moment only 5 European collections keeping it and in the Gallery I didn't found any photo of it.
4) Acanthurus bahianus - Ocean surgeon. A little more common as the Orange-socket surgeonfish ( just ) and kept at 7 European collections but also from this species I didn't found any photos in the Gallery.
5) Acanthurus bariene - Blackspot surgeonfish, also quite rare ( 6 European collections ) but from this species some photos can be found in the Gallery, like this one made by myself at a dutch fish-shop : Blackspot Surgeonfish | ZooChat .
6) Acanthurus blochii - Ringtail surgeonfish : from this species I didn't found information about captive-keeping but in the Gallery it is represented by a few pictures made in the wild by Hix like this one : https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/ringtail-surgeonfish-acanthurus-leblochii.184519/
7) Acanthurus chirurgus - Doctorfish, a rarely seen species in Europe ( 8 collections ) and only one photo in the Gallery, made by Kakapo in a public aquarium in Franch : Doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus) | ZooChat
8) Acanthurus chronixis - Chronixis surgeonfish. A species for which I didn't found any information about captive-keeping and also - sofar - not represented in the Gallery.
9) Acanthurus coeruleus - Atlantic blue tang. Relative common in european zoos with 27 collections keeping it. Also a number of pictures of the species in the Gallery like this one made by ralph at the now closed Aquatopia / Belgium : Atlantic blue tang | ZooChat
10) Acanthurus dussumieri - Eyestripe surgeonfish. Kept at 15 collections in Europe and also a number of pictures can be found in the Gallery like this one, made by myself at the now closed Aquatopia / Belgium : Eyestripe surgeonfish | ZooChat
11) Acanthurus fowleri - Fowler's surgeonfish. A rarely-kept species and at the moment only to be found in 3 European collections. In the Gallery I wasn't able to find a single photo of the species.
12) Acanthurus gahlm - Black surgeonfish. As far as I could find-out, never been kept in European public collections and also no photos of it in the Gallery.

To be continued...
 
Already have to make a correction :
12) Acanthurus gahlm - Black surgeonfish is kept at the moment in Europe, at Valencia ( L Oceanografic ), they are however not signed. On Zootierliste the scientific name for this species is Acanthurus grahhm - the reason I didn't find it on my first search :(.
 
A. gahhm is the correct spelling.

:p

Hix
 
Last edited:
Part 2 :

13) Acanthurus grammoptilus - Fine-lined surgeonfish. No information about being kept in public collections in Europe and didn't find any photos of it in the ZooChat-Gallery.
14) Acanthurus guttatus - White-spotted surgeonfish. A very rare species in European aquariums and at the moment only 2 collections are taking care for it. I did find it however also in the pet-trade and there it was where I took one of the few pictures which can be found in the Gallery : White-spotted surgeonfish - Acanthurus guttatus | ZooChat.
15) Acanthurus japonicus - Japan surgeonfish. Kept at 15 European public collections and in the Gallery a good number of photos can be found of this species like this one : Acanthurus japonicus | ZooChat.
16) Acanthurus leucocheilus - Palelipped surgeonfish. At the moment not kept anymore in public collections in Europe but untill 2008 Zoo Leipzig had it. In the Gallery it is represented by pictures made in the wild like this one made by Hix : Pale-lipped Surgeonfish | ZooChat.
17) Acanthurus leucopareius - Whitebar surgeonfish. Another species which is not kept in Europe and here again the only pictures of it in the Gallery are from the wild, like this one, made by Hix :
Whitebar Surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucopareius) | ZooChat.
18) Acanthurus leucosternon - Powderblue surgeonfish. One of the better-known Surgeonfish-species and at the moment kept at 23 zoos and aquariums ( in Europe ). There is a good number of pictures of it in the Gallery like this one, made at an aquarium-shop in the Netherlands : Acanthurus leucosternon | ZooChat.
19) Acanthurus lineatus - Lined surgeonfish. Also known as Clown surgeonfish, one of the readible recognizeble surgeonfish-species and kept quite commonly in European collections - at the moment 42 - and also well-represented in the ZooChat-gallery like this one made by Hix in the wild :
Lined Surgeonfish (Acanthurus lineatus) | ZooChat.
20) Acanthurus maculiceps - White-freckled surgeonfish. Quite rarely-kept species with 7 holders in Europe at the moment. Sofar didn't find a photo of it in our Gallery.
21) Acanthurus mata - Elongate surgeonfish. Kept at 15 European zoos and aquariums but in the Gallery I only found one photo, made by myself at the now-closed Aquatopia / Belgium: Elongate surgeonfish | ZooChat.
22) Acanthurus monroviae - Monrovia doctorfish. Didn't find any info about captive holdings in public collections and also in the Gallery I didn't found photos of this species.
23) Acanthurus nigricans - Whitecheek surgeonfish. At the moment kept at 11 public collections in Europe and in the Gallery a good number of photos of this species can be found like this one, made in the wild by Hix : Whitecheek Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigricans) | ZooChat.
24) Acanthurus nigricauda - Epaulette surgeonfish. Kept at only 5 European zoos and aquariums and only a few pictures of it at the Gallery like this one from the wild, made by Hix : Blackstreak Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigricaudus) | ZooChat.

To be continued....
 
Thank you very much Hix but as I said, several common names, no scientific names and so on, makes it quite difficult to find the right species by the right picture. Very glatt you can help a little :) !
 
I suppose I should start adding scientific names when I post.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
I suppose I should start adding scientific names when I post.

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

For many reptilians, amphiabians, fish and invetebrates this would be indeed very usefull ( but not only you, also all other ZooChatters - me included !!! ) ;) .
 
Part 3 :

25) Acanthurus nigrofuscus - Brown surgeonfish. Rare species in European zoos and aquariums and at the moment only at 4 collections. A few photos at the Gallery like this one, made by Hix in the wild : Brown Surgeonfish | ZooChat
26) Acanthurus nigroris - Blue-lined surgeonfish. Very rarely kept and only one collection mention on ZooTierListe : Stralsund in Germany. The only photos I found are made in the wild like this one from ( again :) ) Hix : Blue-lined Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigros) | ZooChat.
27) Acanthurus nubilus - Blue-lined surgeon. To make things even more difficult, this species has almost the same English name as the previous species ! Didn't found information about it being kept in public collections in Europe and also at the Gallery it seems not to be represented.
28) Acanthurus olivaceus - Orange-spot surgeonfish. One of the more commonly kept species and found at 33 European collections. Also a good number of photos of it can be found at the Gallery like this one made by myself at the now closed Aquatopia : Orangeband surgeonfish | ZooChat
29) Acanthurus polyzona - Black-barred surgeonfish. A very rarely kept species and at the moment only kept at one collection in Europe : Duisburg Zoo. Didn't found any photos of this species in the Gallery.
30 ) Acanthurus pyroferus - Chocolate surgeonfish. Kept at a number of European collections ( 18 ) and well-represented in our ZooChat Gallery like this one, made by me at a dutch aquarium-store : Acanthurus pyroferus | ZooChat.
31) Acanthurus randalli - Gulf surgeonfish. No information found about it being kept in Europe and also no photos sofar at the Gallery.
32) Acanthurus reversus - Revers surgeonfish. And another species with no captive history and also with no photos at the Gallery.
33) Acanthurus sohal - Sohal surgeonfish. A species which is well-represented in European zoos and aquariums and also well-represented in our Gallery, like this one made by myself : Acanthurus sohal | ZooChat.
34) Acanthurus tennentii - Double-banded surgeonfish. Kept at 16 European public collections and several photos at the Gallery like this one, made by myself in a Dutch aquarium-shop :
Acanthurus tennanti | ZooChat.
35) Acanthurus thompsoni - Thompson's surgeonfish. Not represented in any European zoo or aquarium but Hix has placed a picture of the species from the wild into the Gallery : Thompsons Surgeonfish (Acanthurus thompsoni) | ZooChat
36) Acanthurus triostegus - Convict surgeonfish. Kept at a good number of European collections at the moment ( 21 ) and also well-represented in the ZooChat Gallery like this photo, made by myself : Convict surgeonfish - Acanthurus triostegus | ZooChat.

To be continued....
 
Part 4 :

37) Acanthurus tristis - Indian Ocean mimic surgeonfish. Rarely kept species in European public collections with only 3 holders at the moment. Under the name A. tristis I wasn't able to find any photo's of it in the Gallery but maybe it already is represented unindified in the Gallery because I know it should be avaible now and then in the aquarium-trade.
38) Acanthurus xanthopterus - Yellow-fin surgeonfish. A species which can be found in 22 zoos and aquariums in Europe and several photo's of it can be found in the Gallery like this one, made by Hix in the wild : Yellowfin Surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus) | ZooChat.
39) Ctenochaetus binotatus - Two-spot surgeonfish. Rarely kept species and only to be found in 9 European collections. Wasn't able to find pictures of it in the Gallery.
40) Ctenochaetus cyanocheilus - Short-tail bristletooth. A very rare species in Europe and at the moment only one collection has it on display: Le Septieme Continent in France. There are no photos of it in our Gallery.
41) Ctenochaetus flavicauda - White-tail bristletooth. As rare as the previous species and the single European collection keeping it is the AquaDom / SeaLife in Berlin. There are no pictures of it at the Gallery.
42) Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis - Chevron tang. Kept at 8 European collections but in the Gallery I found only one photo, made by myself in a duch aquarium-shop : Juvenile Chevron Surgeonfish | ZooChat.
43) Ctenochaetus marginatus - Striped-fin surgeonfish. Rarely-seen species in European collections and at the moment only on display at 3 zoos and aquariums. There are no pictures to be found in the Gallery.
44) Ctenochaetus striatus - Striated surgeonfish. A little more common as the above mentioned species of this genus and found in 18 European collections. At the Gallery there are a number of photos of the species like this one, made by myself on Fehmarn :
Ctenochaetus striatus | ZooChat.
45) Ctenochaetus strigosus - Spotted surgeonfish. The most commonly kept species of the genus in Europe and found in 28 collections. A number of pictures can be found in the Gallery like this one, made by myself at Burgers Zoo : Ctenochaetus strigosus | ZooChat .
46) Ctenochaetus tominiensis - Tomini surgeonfish. Kept at a good number of European collections ( 21 ) and also a number of pictures of it can be found at the Gallery like this one, made by myself at Zoo Duisburg : Orange-tipped bristle tooth | ZooChat .
47) Ctenochaetus truncatus - Indian goldring bristletooth. One of the rarer kept species and only 5 European collections are mentioned at Zootierliste. In the Gallery I only found one photo, made by myself at a dutch aquarium-shop : Squaretailed Bristletooth (Ctenochaetus truncatus) | ZooChat .
48) Naso annulatus - White-margin unicornfish. In Europe kept at 11 public collections but in the Gallery sofar only a few pictures can be found, like this one, made by myself in a dutch aquarium-shop : Whitemargin unicornfish | ZooChat.

To be continued....
 
Thank you very much for up-dating the list, very helpfull and exactly what I wanted to reach with this thread !
I guess the 2 Goldring bristletooth pictures are both Ctenochaetus truncatus ?
And for the species-list I used Fishbase ( All Species ) and there Acanthurus tractus isn't mentioned, had however already heared of its discription.
And again, thanks for your active cooperation !
 
I think with marine fish you'll have more luck in private aquaria than in public. These small fish are fairly boring when compared to sharks and Ray's, or interesting inverts like octopus and jellies.

Working in the marine pet trade I've seen a lot of these on occasion. I just looked up my own fish on ZTL and one of them is only kept in one collection and one is only in five, but both are very common in captivity.
 
Thanks for your reply Devi. I know many species are kept in good numbers in privat hands but even so I think it's quite intresting to get a better overview which species are kept at aquariums and zoos world-wide.
Of course you may find these beautifull creatures boring but evenso they are living animals which deserve a place in zoos and aquariums and a lot of people don't find them that boring, otherwise there wouldn't be a complete industry around them !
 
vogelcommando said:
Thanks for your reply Devi. I know many species are kept in good numbers in privat hands but even so I think it's quite intresting to get a better overview which species are kept at aquariums and zoos world-wide.
Of course you may find these beautifull creatures boring but evenso they are living animals which deserve a place in zoos and aquariums and a lot of people don't find them that boring, otherwise there wouldn't be a complete industry around them !
Click to expand...

I think you misread, I didn't say that I found the boring, I've said that I work with them professionally and keep them personally. The public however don't find them as interesting as sharks etc.
 
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