Dussumier's Surgeonfish

About

Dussumier's surgeonfish (Acanthurus dussumieri) is a large, wide-ranging tang found across an enormous sweep of the Indo-Pacific, from the reefs off East Africa all the way out to Hawaii and the Line Islands. In the wild, adults favor deeper seaward reef slopes, outer reef walls, and even deep shipwrecks, where they graze on the thin films of green algae, diatoms, and detritus that coat sandy surfaces. Juveniles tend to hang around shallower algae-covered rocky areas before moving to deeper water as they mature. One of the more interesting things about this species is what happens when it feels threatened or is working out dominance with a neighbor. Its colors visibly intensify, which gives you a real-time read on its mood. Generally peaceful toward other species, it can become territorial with other tangs, especially those that resemble it in shape or coloring. In the wild it moves around singly, in pairs, or in loose schools. That schooling instinct, combined with its eventual adult size, means this fish genuinely needs a very large system to do well in captivity. This is firmly a species for experienced keepers with appropriately large setups, and not a fish to squeeze into a modest tank on good intentions alone.