surgeonfish, any of about 75 species of thin, deep-bodied, tropical marine fishes of the family Acanthuridae (order Perciformes). Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. The spines, which resemble a surgeon’s scalpel, may be either fixed in place or hinged at the rear so they can be opened outward and directed forward.
Surgeonfishes are mostly algae eaters. They develop from a transparent larva (acronurus) and, with growth, may change considerably in form or colour. Their maximum length usually does not exceed 50 cm (20 inches). Species include the yellow surgeon, or yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens), an Indo-Pacific species about 20 cm (8 inches) long and coloured either bright yellow or deep brown; the blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus), an Atlantic and Caribbean fish, yellow when young but more or less blue when adult; and the manini (A. triostegus sandvicensis), a form common in Hawaii.