🐠 Whitecheek Tang (Acanthurus nigricans)
Marine Reef-Safe Delicate Tang • Black-Purple Body With a White Cheek Mark & Yellow Wishbone Striping • Genuine Naming Overlap With the Powder Brown Tang — Please Read Before Buying • Advanced Marine Fish
 
⚠️ Important Information — Please Read First
We want to be genuinely upfront on this one. This species is genuinely considered a delicate fish, more prone to disease than many other tangs, and expert sources genuinely recommend this species only for moderate-to-advanced aquarists with a large, mature, well-established aquarium of at least 125-130 gallons. This species can genuinely be finicky with feeding, so please only consider this species with a real, thorough understanding of its more demanding care needs.
 
📋 We want to be genuinely upfront on naming: this species is genuinely very similar in appearance to the Powder Brown Tang (Acanthurus japonicus), and both have genuinely been sold under the "Gold-Rimmed Tang" name, so we recommend always using the scientific name to avoid confusion.
 
📋 The Whitecheek Tang, also known as the Gold-Rimmed Surgeonfish or Whitecheek Surgeonfish, has a genuinely striking black-to-purplish-blue body with a small white mark on the cheek between the mouth and eyes, dark blue fins highlighted in blue at the tips, a blue tail with a yellow vertical bar, and yellow striping forming a distinctive "wishbone" pattern along the body.
Native to the Indo-Pacific, this species is genuinely found browsing filamentous algae on live rock in mature reef settings, with juveniles genuinely gregarious among large coral heads and territorial adults typically more solitary.
We want to share a genuinely fascinating fact: in some parts of its natural range, this species is known to hybridise with the Achilles Tang. This species is genuinely hostile toward its own kind and other Acanthurus species, so only one should be kept per tank. It's fully reef safe, and genuinely requires a varied diet consisting mainly of vegetable matter, offered in small amounts multiple times daily.
 
⚫🟡 Highlights
🎨 Black-Purple Body With a White Cheek Mark: A genuinely striking, distinctive tang
🔍 Genuine Naming Overlap: Very similar to the Powder Brown Tang, use scientific names to avoid confusion
⚠️ Genuinely Delicate: Please read our disclosure above before purchasing
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates
🧬 Genuine Documented Hybridisation: Known to hybridise with the Achilles Tang in parts of its range