Acanthurus coeruleus (blue tang) (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) 6 (15527792634)

Description:

Description: Acanthurus coeruleus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 - blue tang & Acanthurus bahianus Castelnau, 1855 - ocean surgeonfish over a shallow subtidal, mixed carbonate hardground and aragonite sandy seafloor. Blue tangs are a type of doctorfish that range from pale blue to dark blue to black with dark blue peripheries. The grayish-colored fish at the lower right is an ocean surgeonfish, another type of doctorfish. Blue tangs have white- to yellow- colored spines at the base of their tails (= slit-shaped structure), while ocean surgeonfish have dark blue-colored spines. Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Acanthuridae Locality: offshore from northern Sand Dollar Beach, northwestern San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas. Date: 19 March 2011, 15:23. Source: Acanthurus coeruleus (blue tang) (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) 6. Author: James St. John.