Acanthurus fowleri

Horseshoe surgeonfish | Fowler's Surgeonfish
Acanthurus fowleri
Acanthurus fowleri, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Acanthurus fowleri
Acanthurus fowleri, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green
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Acanthurus fowleri
Acanthurus fowleri

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Bluish grey body, blue head, thin blue horseshoe-shaped mark behind gill cover, black tail base spine, strongly lunate tail with yellow upper and lower tips, and white bar across inner tail. Usually solitary on steep outer reef slopes.


Information

Max Size: 45 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 29.1-31.5°C

Depth: 2-50m

Habitat Generalization Index: 3.3

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Infrequent (3.4% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (2 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: Joe Shields