Naso hexacanthus, Sleek unicornfish : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

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Naso hexacanthus (Bleeker, 1855)

Sleek unicornfish
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Naso hexacanthus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Naso hexacanthus (Sleek unicornfish)
Naso hexacanthus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes) > Nasinae
Etymology: Naso: Latin, nasus = nose (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bleeker.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 30573), usually 10 - 137 m (Ref. 27115). Tropical; 25°C - 28°C (Ref. 27115); 31°N - 32°S, 30°E - 122°W (Ref. 57251)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa (Ref. 9710), including the Mascarene Islands (Ref. 37792) to the Hawaiian, Marquesas and Ducie islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 45.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 75.0 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1602); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 26-29; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 27 - 30. This species is distinguished by the following characters: body moderately deep and compressed, its depth 2.6 to 3.2 times in standard length (SL); dorsal profile of body uniformly convex, without any bony horn-like projection or protuberance anteriorly on head; mouth small; incisiform teeth very small, somewhat pointed, finely serrate on edges, as many as 80 in upper jaw and 100 in lower jaw of large adults; continuous unnotched D VI (rarely V or VII),26-29; A II,27-30; pectoral-fin rays 17-18 (usually 17); pelvic fins I,3; caudal fin slightly emarginate in young, becoming truncate in adults; caudal peduncle slender, subcylindrical, with a pair of bony plates on each side that develop large sharp antrorse keels with age; body colour dark brownish grey, shading ventrally to yellowish (life colour may vary from dark brown to light blue-grey); edge of operculum and preopercle usually dark brown; dorsal and anal fins yellowish with faint diagonal brown bands and a blue margin; tongue black at lengths of 25 cm or more (Ref. 9808).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits clear lagoon and seaward reef slopes (Ref. 9710, 48637). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Usually seen in large schools (Ref. 90102). Mainly diurnal, it feeds on zooplankton such as crab larvae, arrow worms, pelagic tunicates, and occasionally filamentous red algae. The species is never poisonous (Ref. 4795). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawn in pairs (Ref. 240).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Randall, John E. | Collaborators

Myers, R.F., 1991. Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p. (Ref. 1602)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 06 May 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless (Ref. 4887)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 22.1 - 28.9, mean 27.5 °C (based on 2224 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02188 (0.01362 - 0.03514), b=2.99 (2.85 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.33 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7; K=0.221; Tmax=44;).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 26.9 [15.5, 50.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.53 [0.26, 0.94] mg/100g; Protein = 19.1 [18.0, 20.1] %; Omega3 = 0.152 [0.094, 0.288] g/100g; Selenium = 43 [22, 76] μg/100g; VitaminA = 73 [25, 209] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.14 [0.78, 1.63] mg/100g (wet weight);