Paracanthurus hepatus
| Common Names: | Blue Surgeonfish Blue Tang Hepatus Tang Hippo Tang Pacific Blue Tang Palette Surgeonfish Regal Tang |
| Synonyms: | Teuthis hepatus |
| Family: | Acanthuridae |
| Category: | Acanthuroids |
| Distribution: | Indo Pacific; Indo Pacific |
| Main Ecosystem: | Reef; Reef |
| Temperament: | Active; Generally peaceful, but often aggressive toward new inhabitants once established. |
| Diet: | Ominvore; Diet is primarily herbivorous; the tang spends most of its time grazing and receives its primary nutrition from algae. In the home aquarium, will heartily accept meaty fares such as mysis, brine, and cyclops. Supplemental feedings from an algae clip are highly advised. Due to its grazing nature, this fish will also consume detrius as a part of its diet. |
| Care: | Feeds on algae and other vegetable matter. Pacific Blue Tang requires a 125 gallon or larger aquarium with a number of hiding places and plenty of room to swim. It is tolerant of other tangs, but can occasionally be aggressive towards other Acanthurus species. It is more susceptible to head and lateral line erosion, fin erosion, ich and other skin parasites than many other fish. While not common, Paracanthurus hepatus will occasionally be collected with flukes. |
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| Potential Size: | Male: 30.5cm (12") Female: 30.5cm (12") |
| Water Region: | All; All |
| Activity: | Diurnal; Diurnal |
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| Breeding: | Egg scatterer. |
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| Comments: | This species has a scalpel-like, razor-sharp spines on their sides near the ba |
| Main Colours: | Blue, Black, Yellow |
| Markings: | No Markings |
| Mouth: | Normal |
| Tail: | Flat |
| Search: | Show similar species Find compatible species |
| Image Credit: | dthurs |
| Submitted By: | dthurs |
| Contributors: | sirbooks, greenmonkey51, Chibils |
| History: | View changes to this profile |
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