Acanthurus thompsoni
Night Surgeonfish | Thompson's Surgeonfish | Thompson's Tang | Chocolate Surgeonfish | Whitetail Surgeonfish
Acanthurus thompsoni, Maldives, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Acanthurus thompsoni, Niue, Photo: Graham Edgar
Acanthurus thompsoni, Aceh, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Similar Species
Same Genus
Distribution
Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Uniformly dark, oval-shaped body with a lunate, white tail and a rounded head with dark spots. Forms schools which feed on plankton in the water column, well above the reef.
Information
Max Size: 27 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.6-31.2°C
Depth: 4-119m
Habitat Generalization Index: 14.78
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: Frequent (11.8% 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 (13 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields