Naso lituratus
Orange spine unicornfish | Black-finned Unicornfish | Clown Surgeonfish | Clown Tang | Clown Unicornfish | Masked Unicornfish | Pacific Orange-spine Unicornfish | Redlip Surgeonfish | Smooth-headed Unicornfish | Stripe-face Unicornfish | Striped-face Unicornfish
Naso lituratus, adult, Bali, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Naso lituratus, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Grey-brown with two orange spines on tail base, orange lips, yellow patch above eyes, yellow-edged black mask from top lip to eyes, black strip from top of head along dorsal fin, with pale yellow/white line along base of dorsal fin and broad pale blue outer margin, tail pale with black margin and orangish anal fin. Almost identical N. elegans (Elegant Unicornfish) is an Indian Ocean species.
Information
Max Size: 46 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.9-31.2°C
Depth: 0-90m
Habitat Generalization Index: 24.93
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: Common (34.5% 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 (3 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields