Surgeonfish, Tangs, Doctorfish, Lancetfish, Unicornfish

The Surgeonfish are tropical marine fishes found on coral reefs, along with the butterflyfishes and. Fish in this family (order Perciformes, perch-like fishes) have oval-shaped bodies, steep sloping foreheads, and some extremely bizarre facial decorations. Another physical characteristic that most share is the presence of one, sometimes two, sharp spines. It takes little imagination to appreciate what damage these "scalpels" can do to anything that they come in contact with (including the aquarist's hand or net) when held erect from the side of the fish and moved like razor-sharp scythe as it flexes its body.

The Clown surgeonfish, lined surgeonfish (Acanthurus lineatus) are active, constantly browsing fish requires well-oxygenated water and efficient filtration sysstem to deal with the constantly-produced waste. Although these fish may school in the wild, they do like to find less crowded areas in which to seek refuge every now and then. In the aquarium this isn't really possible and very often they will resent fellow surgeons intruding into their swimming space. However, given a large enough aquarium and with the presence with some other non-surgeonfish species to distract their attention,small numbers can successfully be kept together.

The Bignose unicornfish (Naso vlamingi), belongs to family Acanthuridae. There are many species in this family containing several variations on the basic shape. The genus Naso develops a long "nose" in the adult, and species in the genus Zebrasoma have very high dorsal and anal fins. The Smoothhead unicornfish (Naso lituratus) lack the prominent projection above the mouth. The beautiful colors of this fish are assumed as adults. The Short-nosed unicornfish (Naso brevirostris) juvenile species do well in the aquarium They lack the projection of the adult. They will eat prepared foods as well as live brine shrimp. Adults in nature are particulate plankton feeders. In the wild this species can reach a foot and a half in length. In captivity it is much smaller.