In the spotlight
What is El Niño?
A new El Niño event, described as “very strong”, is set to occur from this spring onwards.
Identity card
Yellowfin surgeonfish
- Scientific name:
- Acanthurus xanthopterus
- Family:
- Acanthuridae
- Class:
- Actinopterygii
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Year of description:
- 1835, Valenciennes
- IUCN Status:
- Least Concern
- Distribution:
-
Indo-Pacific: coast of East Africa to the Hawaiian Islands and French Polynesia, Japan, south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia, and the eastern Pacific.
- Habitat:
-
Coral reefs, sandy slopes, lagoons at depths between 1 and 100 m. Juveniles in shallow waters, adults in the protective depths of bays and lagoons.
- Size:
50 cm, up to 70 cm.
- Diet:
-
Diatoms, detrital film of sand, filamentous algae, hydroids and pieces of fish.
