Acanthurus triostegus

Convict surgeonfish | Convict Tang | Convictfish | Five-banded Surgeonfish
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus, juvenile, In rockpool, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus, North WA, Australia, Photo: Andrew Green
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Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus
Acanthurus triostegus

Distribution

Temperate Australasia, Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Pale yellow body crossed by five thin black bands, the first passing obliquely through eye, additional broken band on tail base. Sometimes aggregate in huge schools that graze across shallow reefs.


Information

Max Size: 27 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 21-30.9°C

Depth: 0-90m

Habitat Generalization Index: 23.49

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 (7.7% 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 (33 per transect)

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


Edit by: Joe Shields