Elegant Unicornfish, Naso elegans (Rüppell 1829)
Other Names: Blonde Naso Tang, Indian Orange-spine Unicorn, Lipstick Surgeonfish, Lipstick Tang, Orangespine Unicornfish, Smoothheaded Unicornfish
An Elegant Unicornfish, Naso elegans, at Marsa Alam, Red Sea, August 2011. Source: Rick Stuart-Smith / Reef Life Survey. License: CC by Attribution
Summary:
A grey unicornfish with a dark snout, a broad yellow bar above the eyes, a yellow dorsal fin with a narrow blue margin and a black submarginal band on the dorsal fin, dark brown anal and pelvic fins, a yellowish caudal fin with black upper and lower margins and a black submarginal band.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2025, Naso elegans in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Jun 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4961
Elegant Unicornfish, Naso elegans (Rüppell 1829)
More Info
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Distribution |
Recorded at the Australian territories of Christmas Island and Cocos-Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea and East Africa, eastwards to Bali, Indonesia. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin VI, 26-30; Anal fin II, 27-30. Compared with females, males have larger caudal spines, and longer filaments on the caudal fin. |
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Feeding |
Herbivore - browses on macroscopic algae. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2025 |
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Resources |
Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes
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Elegant Unicornfish, Naso elegans (Rüppell 1829)
References
Choat, J.H., McIlwain, J., Abesamis, R., Clements, K.D., Myers, R., Nanola, C., Rocha, L.A., Russell, B. & Stockwell, B. 2012. Naso elegans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T178004A1518077. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T178004A1518077.en. Downloaded on 07 August 2016.
