Acanthurus achilles, Achilles tang : fisheries, aquarium

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Acanthurus achilles Shaw, 1803

Achilles tang
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Acanthurus achilles   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Acanthurus achilles (Achilles tang)
Acanthurus achilles
Picture by Malaer, P.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes) > Acanthurinae
Etymology: Acanthurus: Greek, akantha = thorn + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Shaw.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 10 m (Ref. 27115), usually 0 - 4 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 28°N - 26°S, 143°E - 109°W

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

Western Pacific: oceanic islands of Oceania to the Hawaiian and Pitcairn islands. Also known from Wake, Marcus, and Mariana islands. Eastern Central Pacific: southern tip of Baja California, Mexico (Ref. 9267) and other offshore islands.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 24.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 29-33; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 26 - 29. Dark brown, nearly black in color. Erectile spine (sharp and forward-pointing) on each side of caudal peduncle which folds down into a groove. Mouth small, snout noticeably extended. Light blue ring around chin and presence of spot of same color on gill cover at angle of gill opening. Dorsal fin with soft part having longer base than spinous part. Juveniles lack the large orange spot on caudal area.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in clear seaward reefs, usually in groups (Ref. 9710). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Feeds on filamentous and small fleshy algae (Ref. 9267). Monogamous (Ref. 52884). Spine in caudal peduncle may be venomous. Size of metamorphosis from postlarva stage to juvenile is 6 cm (Ref. 9267). This species sometimes hybridizes with A. nigricans (Ref. 9808).

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

Monogamous mating is observed as both facultative and social (Ref. 52884).

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

Randall, J.E., 1956. A revision of the surgeonfish genus Acanthurus. Pac. Sci. 10(2):159-235. (Ref. 1920)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 03 May 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; 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 | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 25.8 - 28.3, mean 27.4 °C (based on 404 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02344 (0.01103 - 0.04981), b=2.96 (2.79 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (14 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 77.7 [33.7, 236.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.837 [0.317, 2.103] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.9, 19.4] %; Omega3 = 0.0938 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 13 [4, 39] μg/100g; VitaminA = 45.8 [10.8, 181.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 3.17 [0.99, 6.04] mg/100g (wet weight);