Bignose Unicornfish, Naso vlamingii (Valenciennes 1835)


Other Names: Big-nose Unicorn, Big-nose Unicornfish, Scribbled Unicornfish, Vlaming's Unicornfish

A Bignose Unicornfish, Naso vlamingii, being attended by Common Cleaner Wrasse at Manado, Minahasa, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
Bignose Unicornfish have a prominent bump on the snout, tall dorsal and anal fins and long caudal lobe filaments. Adults are bluish to greyish or brown with blue spots on the upper sides that become blue lines on the mid and lower sides, and a broad blue band from the eye to the snout bump.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2017, Naso vlamingii in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2202

Bignose Unicornfish, Naso vlamingii (Valenciennes 1835)

More Info


Distribution

Recorded in Australia from Rowley Shoals (17°20'S) and Scott Reef (14°03'S), WA, Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea (12°15'S), Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and the northern Great Barrier Reef (12°00'S) to off Sydney, NSW; also the Lord Howe Island region in the Tasman Sea. In 2017, the species was recorded from the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania - far south of its previous known distribution. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific.

Inhabits deep lagoons and seaward reefs, often forming schools to feed on zooplankton along the upper parts of deep slopes and drop-offs.

Fisheries

Taken in subsistence fisheries in parts of its range, and collected for sale in the aquarium industry.

Species Citation

Naseus vlamingii Valenciennes, 1835, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 10: 293. Type locality: Moluccas.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2017

Bignose Unicornfish, Naso vlamingii (Valenciennes 1835)

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Russell, B.C. 1986. Part VII Fishes. 79-103 in Berry, P.F. (ed.). Faunal Surveys of the Rowley Shoals, Scott Reef and Seringapatam Reef, northwestern Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 25: 1-106.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 197 pp.

Borden, W.C. 1998. Phylogeny of the unicornfishes (Naso, Acanthuridae) based on soft anatomy. Copeia 1998(1): 104-113.

Choat, J.H. & Axe, L.M. 1996. Growth and longevity in acanthurid fishes: an analysis of otolith increments. Marine Ecology Progress Series 134: 15-26.

Choat, J.H., K.D. Clements & W.D. Robbins. 2002. The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs. 1. Dietary analyses. Mar. Biol. 140: 613-623.

Comeros-Raynal, M.T., Choat, J.H., Polidoro, B., Clements, K.D., Abesamis, R., Craig, M.T., Lazuardi, M.E., McIlwain, J., Muljadi, A., Myers, R.F., et al.. 2012. The likelihood of extinction of iconic and dominant components of coral reefs: the parrotfishes and surgeonfishes. PLoS ONE http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039825.

Dominici-Arosemena, A., Molina, H., Robertson, R. & Smith-Vaniz, B. 2012. Naso vlamingii. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. . Downloaded on 14 May 2014.

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270.

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. & Debelius, H. 2001. Surgeonfishes, Rabbitfishes and Their Relatives. A comprehensive guide to Acanthuroidei. Chorleywood, U.K. : TMC Publishing 208 pp.

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Osborne, K. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 64 pp.

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Thompson, A.A. 2003. Marine surveys undertaken in the Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, March-April 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Science 59 pp.

Oxley, W.G., Emslie, M., Muir, P. & Thompson, A.A. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve, March 2004. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Science i-vii, 1-67 pp.

Randall, J.E. 2001. Surgeonfishes of Hawai'i and the World. Honolulu : Mutual Publishing and Bishop Museum Press 125 pp.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2

Russell, B.C., Larson, H.K., Hutchins, J.B. & Allen, G.R. 2005. Reef fishes of the Sahul Shelf. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Supplement 1 2005: 83-105.

Valenciennes, A. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1835. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 10 482 pp. pls 280-306.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37437032

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-50 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:60 cm TL

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map