Bluelined Surgeonfish, Acanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus 1758)


Other Names: Blue-lined Surgeonfish, Lined Surgeon, Lined Surgeonfish, Striped Surgeonfish, Striped Tang, Zebra Surgeonfish

A Bluelined Surgeonfish, Acanthurus lineatus, at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Source: Andy Lewis / Lizard Island Field Guide, http://lifg.australianmuseum.net.au/. License: CC by Attribution

Summary:
Head and body with alternating yellow and blue lines outlined in black, with a white ventral surface, yellowish dorsal and anal fins yellowish with a blue margin, yellow to orange pelvic fins with a black leading edge.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2019, Acanthurus lineatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2186

Bluelined Surgeonfish, Acanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus 1758)

More Info


Distribution

Ningaloo Reef to the Dampier Archipelago and offshore reefs of north Western Australia, Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland and reefs in the Coral Sea, to Seal Rocks, New South Wales, with juveniles to Sydney, and even further south to Narooma; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is widespread, common and locally abundant in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific.

Features

Dorsal fin IX, 27-30; Anal fin 25-28; Gill rakers (first arch) 14-16. 
Body deep, compressed, depth 2.1-3 times in SL (juveniles relatively deeper bodied than adults); head profile strongly convex; mouth small; teeth spatulate, close-set, with denticulate edges; dorsal fin continuous, unnotched; caudal fin deeply lunate with concavity, outer lobes elongate in adults; a lancet-like spine on each side of caudal peduncle which folds into a deep horizontal groove, this spine long, 1.9-2.5 in HL, and venomous.

Colour

Upper body with alternating black-edged blue and yellow stripes, those on head mainly diagonal; lower sides pale lavender to bluish-white; dorsal fin finely striped pale blue and yellowish; anal fin grey with a yellow basal band and a pale blue margin; caudal fin blackish with a large, grey crescent, edged anteriorly with a bluish white band, and black posterior margin; pectoral fins mostly pale; pelvic fins yellowish-orange with a white lateral margin and a blackish submarginal line.

Feeding

Herbivore - feeds on algal turfs. At Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean, adults defend permanent territories that contain microalgal turfs on which they feed (Robertson et al. 1979).

Biology

Forms spawning aggregations.

Fisheries

Fishes in much of its range, and targeted in  commercial, subsistence and artisinal fisheries, and for the aquarium industry.

Species Citation

Chaetodon lineatus Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae 1: 274. Type locality: Indies.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2019

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Bluelined Surgeonfish, Acanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus 1758)

References


Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91.

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

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. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

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 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24856114

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

Choat, J.H., McIlwain, J., Abesamis, R., Clements, K.D., Myers, R., Nanola, C., Rocha, L.A., Russell, B. & Stockwell, B. 2012. Acanthurus lineatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T177993A1514809. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T177993A1514809.en. Downloaded on 16 July 2019.

Choat, J.H., Robbins, W.D. & Clements, K.D. 2004. The trophic status of herbivorous fishes on coral reefs. Marine Biology 145: 445-454.

Craig, P. 1996. Intertidal territoriality and time-budget of the surgeonfish, Acanthurus lineatus, in American Samoa. Environmental Biology of Fishes 46(1): 27-36.

Domeier, M.L. & Colin, P.L. 1997. Tropical reef fish spawning and aggregations: defined and reviewed. Bulletin of Marine Science 60(3): 698-726. See ref online

Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp. 

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 

Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum. 

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. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp. 

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

Lacépède, B.G. 1802. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : chez Plassan Vol. 4 728 pp. 16 pls. 

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Tomus I 824 pp. See ref at BHL

Mutz, S.J. 2006. Comparative growth dynamics of Acanthurid fishes. M.Sc Thesis, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University.

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. 1956. A revision of the surgeon fish genus AcanthurusPacific Science 10(2): 159-235 See ref online, open access

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

Randall, J.E. 2001. Zanclidae, Acanthuridae. pp. 3651-3683 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218. 

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.

Robertson, D.R. 1983. On the spawning behavior and spawning cycles of eight surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) from the Indo-Pacific. Environmental Biology of Fishes 9(3/4): 193-223.

Robertson, R., Polunin, N.V.C. & Leighton, K. 1979. The behavioral ecology of three Indian Ocean surgeonfishes (Acanthurus lineatusA. leucosternon and Zebrasoma scopas): their feeding strategies, and social and mating systems. Environmental Biology of Fishes 4(2): 125-170 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005448.

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

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37437010

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:0-15 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:38 cm TL

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CAAB distribution map