The Blue Tang surgeonfish
Acanthuridae is the family of surgeonfish, which has 75 species. The Blue Tang is one of them. The fish are called surgeonfish because of the sharp, moving spines on either side of their tail that look like scalpels used by doctors. This fish, which is also called Acanthurus coeruleus, can grow to be up to 39 cm long when it is fully grown. Its color changes from pale white to almost black as it gets older. As an adult, it is generally deep blue but sometimes purple. The color changes can happen to all or part of the fish, and they can be different for males and females.
The Blue Tang Surgeonfish has a “pancake-shaped” body, high eyes, a yellow spine at the base of the tail, a mouth near the end of the dorsal fin, and a yellow spine at the base of the tail. The colors on this fish make it stand out the most among Western Atlantic Surgeonfish. Young fish are bright yellow, while older fish have blue or orange-brown bodies with gray lines. The fish is known as the Surgeonfish because of its sharp tail spine, which is located in a groove on the peduncle and often sticks out when the fish is angry. The back of Acanthurus coeruleus has 26 to 28 soft rays, 3 spines, and 24 to 26 soft rays. One fish can live for 12 to 15 years.
The place
In the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, you can find Blue Tang Surgeonfish in small reefs. Even though these fish live mostly in the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and the coast of Florida,.
The Blue Tang Surgeonfish likes to live near hard coral reefs, but they can also be found near soft corals, algae beds, and rocks. When they are young, they like to be in places with lots of cover, and they often hide in holes and cracks in coral. Blue-tang Tang Surgeonfish live in water up to 40 meters deep.
Behavior
Blue-tang surgeonfish live alone and have home areas of different sizes. They don’t move around. As adults, they have three different ways of interacting with others: territorial, wandering, and training. During the day, they move around to find food, but at night, they hide in cracks in the reef to avoid being eaten.
Making copies
Large groups of residents gather in open areas between reefs to mate. The fish like to be in places that are 6 to 10 meters deep and have strong currents that can help carry the fertilized eggs out to sea. They are ready to mate when their color changes from a deep blue all over to a pale blue on the front half of their body and a dark blue on the back. The Blue Tang Surgeonfish do something known as a “spawning rush.” At this point, the females that are flirting and a few males leave the group to release gametes at the surface of the water. Usually, spawning happens every day in a place with less than 20 people. In the winter, the bigger breeding takes place in the afternoon, three to eight days after the full moon. Each fish only breeds once or twice a year, on average. Once a fish turns one year old, it is ready to mate. It could take up to 24 hours for the eggs to hatch.
Predators: Tuna, Bar Jack, Tiger Grouper, and other big fish that eat meat are known to eat Blue Tang Surgeonfish.
Food Plan
The Blue Tang Surgeonfish mostly eats filamentous algae because they are plant-eaters. Because their stomachs aren’t shaped like gizzards, they don’t eat hard things like coral. They eat by themselves, in small groups, or with more than one hundred other animals.
Passionate About
I find it interesting that the Blue Tang Surgeonfish (Acanthurus coeruleus) can both defend itself and attack. Its main defense is going to school to lower the chance of being attacked by an attacker. When it attacks, it usually thrashes a single fish. It’s also interesting to know that their spines can hurt people badly and leave deep cuts that are easy for germs to get into. Also, Blue Tang Surgeonfish can be deadly if eaten. Even though these things are true, they are still beautiful fish to see in tanks.
