Dangerous and Deadly Sea Creatures: Whitespotted surgeonfish

The Whitespotted surgeonfish also known as Acanthurus guttatus is a marine reef tang in the fish family Acanthuridae. It is found in shallow waters on reefs in the Indo-Pacific.

The basic colour is grey which darkens towards the posterior and the body is liberally spotted with white. One bar reaches from nape across operculum and the other reaches from dorsal to pelvic just behind the pelvic fin.  Numerous white spots toward the posterior are scattered across body.  Pelvic fins are bright yellow.  Caudal fin is pale yellow towards the caudal peduncle.

Quick stats or scientific classification of Whitespotted surgeonfish:

Kingdom:        Animalia

Phylum:           Chordata

Class:  Actinopterygii

Order: Perciformes

Suborder:        Acanthuroidei

Family:            Acanthuridae

Genus:            Acanthurus

Species:          A. guttatus

Binomial name of of Whitespotted surgeonfish:

Acanthurus guttatus (J. R. Forster, 1801)

The whitespotted surgeonfish feeds on filamentous algae and calcareous algae. It is considered to form an important link between algae, the primary producers in the ocean, and the detrital food web in the Pacific Ocean.