Japanese surgeonfish

Japanese surgeonfish
	Japanese surgeonfish ( Acanthurus japonicus )
Systematics
	Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order :	Surgeonfish (Acanthuriformes)
Family :	Surgeonfish (Acanthuridae)
Subfamily :	Scalpel doctor fish (Acanthurinae)
Genre :	Real surgeonfish ( Acanthurus )
Type :	Japanese surgeonfish
Scientific name
	Acanthurus japonicus
	Schmidt , 1931

The Japanese surgeonfish ( Acanthurus japonicus ), also Philippines surgeonfish called, is a kind from the family of surgeonfish . It lives in the tropical western Pacific from Indonesia via the Philippines to Japan and colonizes lagoons and outer reefs there . This fish species was scientifically described for the first time in 1931.

Appearance

As is typical for doctor fish, the fish has a high-backed, laterally flattened body. The back and anal fin are strongly rounded; the caudal fin is pulled out slightly sickle-shaped. There is a "scalpel" or blade on each of the tail roots. It reaches a body length of up to 18 cm and is one of the smallest among the surgeon fish species.

The body color is gray to olive. The fish has a bright yellow color on the upper and lower edge of the body. The mouth is terminal. The eyes are high up in the body.

behavior

The Japanese surgeonfish mostly lives solitary or in small groups. It is only very rarely seen in flocks.

Aquarium keeping

Like most surgeon fish species, the Japanese surgeon fish is a demanding foster animal in the aquarium . It is sensitive to changes in water and is susceptible to skin parasites. It also behaves aggressively towards the other fish within an aquarium fish community.

literature

André Luty: Doctor fish - way of life - care - species. Dähne Verlag Ettlingen, 1999, ISBN 3-921684-61-7
Andreas Vilcinskas: Marine animals of the tropics. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag Stuttgart, 2.000, ISBN 3-440-07943-0

Web links

Commons : Acanthurus japonicus - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese surgeonfish on Fishbase.org (English)
Acanthurus japonicus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Abesamis, R., Clements, KD, Choat, JH, McIlwain, J., Myers, R., Nanola, C., Rocha, LA, Russell, B. & Stockwell, B., 2010 . February 2014.