Night Surgeonfish, Acanthurus thompsoni (Fowler 1923)
Other Names: Chocolate Surgeonfish, Night Surgeon, Thompson's Surgeonfish, Thompson's Tang, Whitetail Surgeonfish

A Night Surgeonfish, Acanthurus thompsoni, at Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, February 2016. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A uniformly brown to dark brown surgeonfish with a white tail, and a small dark spot just below the rear of the pectoral-fin base.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2023, Acanthurus thompsoni in Fishes of Australia, accessed 18 Feb 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2190
Night Surgeonfish, Acanthurus thompsoni (Fowler 1923)
More Info
Distribution |
Offshore reefs of Western Australia (Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef), Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef Queensland and reefs in the Coral Sea; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the Indo-west-central Pacific from East Africa to the Hawaiian and Pitcairns islands, north to Japan, and south to Australia and New Caledonia. Inhabits coral and sand areas on clear steep outer reef slopes and drop-offs, usually at depths above 30 m. |
Features |
Dorsal fin IX, 23-26; Anal fin III, 23-26; Gill rakers (first arch, anterior 15-18, posterior 14-16. Snout length 7.9 to 8.2 times in SL. Least depth of caudal peduncle 2.2 to 2.5 times in head length. |
Colour |
Body uniformly brown to dark brown; caudal fin white; small, dark spot below and adjacent to axil of pectoral fin. |
Feeding |
Individuals or schools feed on zooplankton (including large gelatinous forms, fish eggs and crustaceans), in the water column well above or away from the reef wall. |
Etymology |
The species is named in honour of John W. Thompson, of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum (Hawaii), who obtained the type specimen. |
Species Citation |
Hepatus thompsoni Fowler 1923, Occasional Papers of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum 8(7): 386. Type locality: Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawaiian Islands. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2023 |
Resources |
Night Surgeonfish, Acanthurus thompsoni (Fowler 1923)
References
Abesamis, R., Clements, K.D., Choat, J.H., McIlwain, J., Myers, R., Nanola, C., Rocha, L.A., Russell, B. & Stockwell, B. 2012. Acanthurus thompsoni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T178008A1519287. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T178008A1519287.en. Downloaded on 28 August 2019.
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. 106 pls.
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.
Fowler, H.W. 1923. New or little known Hawaiian fishes. Occasional Papers of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum 8(7): 375-392
Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202
Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219
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
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. & 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. & 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 Acanthurus. Pacific Science 10(2): 159-235 figs 1-23 pls 1-3 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/8690, 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. 2022. Family Acanthuridae, Surgeonfishes pp. 219-245 in Heemstra, P.C., Heemstra, E., Ebert, D.A., Holleman, W. & Randall, J.E. (eds) Coastal fishes of the western Indian Ocean. Volume 5. Makhanda, South Africa : South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.
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., 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.