🐠 Ocean Surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus)
A Sleek Blue-to-Grey Body With Fine Blue Facial Markings • A True Western Atlantic Rarity • A Hardy, Peaceful Algae Grazer
 
📋 The Ocean Surgeonfish has a sleek, streamlined blue-to-grey body, with fine blue markings along the face and gills and blue-edged anal and caudal fins, along with the scalpel-like tail spine typical of surgeonfish.
It comes from the Western Atlantic, from Brazil through the Caribbean to Florida and Bermuda, uncommon in a trade largely focused on Indo-Pacific fish, and in the wild it's often seen schooling alongside the Atlantic Blue Tang. It's also a fairly recent taxonomic story: in 2011, researchers formally recognised that fish previously identified as this species from parts of its range actually belonged to a separate, visually similar species, Acanthurus tractus. Every Ocean Surgeonfish we ship is feeding well.
It's a peaceful, hardy species once acclimated, and a valuable algae grazer for a reef tank, generally leaving corals and invertebrates alone. It can become territorial toward other tangs of similar shape or colour, so thoughtful tankmate selection helps keep things calm. It reaches up to 38cm, so plan on at least 680L.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Sleek Blue-Grey Body: Fine blue facial markings and fin edging
💎 A True Western Atlantic Rarity: Uncommon in a largely Indo-Pacific-focused trade
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates
🥬 A Valuable Algae Grazer: Effective at controlling nuisance algae
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: A hardy, peaceful eater once settled