Common Name: Dusky Surgeonfish

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Widespread tropical Indo-Pacific, Red Sea to South Africa, east to Hawaiian Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Australia, New Caledonia and the Austral Islands. In Australia, recorded from around Exmouth in Western Australia, across the tropical north to Queensland and south to central New South Wales. Also at Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

Ecological Notes: Shallow reefs and slopes to a depth of 15 to 20 metres. Usually solitary or in pairs.

Additional Notes: Best identified by dark spots posteriorly at dorsal and anal fin bases and small orange spots on face, thin electric blue fin margins. Small species, feeds on zooplankton in the water column or grazes on algae. Similar looking Ctenochaetus binotatus distinguished by blue iris. Grows to 21cms.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.426.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Acanthurus-nigrofuscus.html. Accessed 23/05/18.