Acanthurus mata

Acanthuridae
Pale Surgeonfish, Blue-lined Surgeonfish, Elongate Surgeonfish, Mata Surgeonfish, Striped Surgeonfish, Tailring Surgeon, White-tail Lancet, Yellowmask Surgeonfish
  • Acanthurus mata, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
    Acanthurus mata, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
  • Acanthurus mata, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
    Acanthurus mata, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
  • Acanthurus mata, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green
    Acanthurus mata, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Andrew Green
  • Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Tom Davis
    Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Tom Davis
  • Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
    Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
  • Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
    Acanthurus mata, Juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Yellow mask over eyes, dark tail spine, often pale band on tail base, and blue scribbles over face and body. Can rapidly change from pale blue to dark brown background colouration. Found over steep reef slopes, often in turbid waters, in small groups, feeding above the bottom.
Information
  • Max Size: 50 cm
  • Sea Temperature Range: 22.4-31.4°C
  • Depth: 5-100m
  • Habitat: Coral Reef, Rocky Reef
  • Habitat Generalisation Index: 2.2
    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
Rarity
  • IUCN Threat Status: Least Concern
  • Occurrence: Infrequent (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: Many (12 per transect)
    Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields
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