Palette Surgeonfish

Tropical reef fish

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Identity card

Palette Surgeonfish

Scientific name:: Paracanthurus hepatus

Family:: Acanthuridae, Acanthurinae

Class:: Actinopterygii

Phylum:: Chordata

Year of description:: Linnaeus, 1766

IUCN Status:: Least Concern

CITES-status:: Not Evaluated

Distribution:: Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

Habitat:: From 2 to 40 metres deep.

Size:: It rarely exceeds 20 cm on average.

Diet:: It feeds mainly on zooplankton, but can also feed on algae that live on the seabed.

The palette surgeon fish is known as the character of Dory in "Finding Nemo".

Unlike most other surgeonfish, this species is not very territorial.

did you know?

Where is the animal to be found?

The palette surgeonfish inhabits the areas exposed to the currents of the flats and the tops of the outer slopes, at depths of 2 to 40 metres. It has a very localised distribution on the reef.

Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, from East Africa to the Line Islands; from southern Japan to southern Australia, New Caledonia and Samoa.

How can it be recognised?

It gets its name, surgeonfish, from the sharp, scalpel-like spines at the base of its tail. Furthermore, these spines are covered with a venomous mucus that can cause severe pain. It rarely exceeds 20 cm on average.

What is distinctive about it?

The palette surgeonfish reproduces by external fertilisation. The couple release their gametes into the water when they come to the surface. After the eggs hatch, the larvae remain on the surface and gradually develop as they swim and feed. The long spines grow on the small adult that then settles between the branching corals.