Lined Tang Care Guide
Acanthurus lineatus is a highly territorial Indo-Pacific surgeonfish with black-edged blue and yellow stripes, reaching 38 cm and bearing a venomous caudal spine.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Acanthurus lineatus, the lined surgeonfish, is one of the most distinctive members of the family Acanthuridae, marked by black-edged blue and yellow longitudinal stripes with yellow head striping and a greyish belly. FishBase records a maximum total length of 38 cm. The species is almost continually in motion.
Taxonomy
- Family: Acanthuridae
- Genus: Acanthurus
- Scientific name: Acanthurus lineatus
- Described by: Linnaeus, 1758
Habitat
The species is marine and reef-associated across the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Mascarene Islands to the Hawaiian, Marquesas and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. It favours very shallow surge zones, with FishBase recording depths of 0-15 m, typically 1-3 m.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 1000 L (264 gal)
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Specific gravity: 1.024-1.026
- Carbonate hardness: 8-12 dKH
- Strong water flow
- Lifespan: 10-25 years
Diet
The lined surgeonfish is mostly herbivorous, grazing algae during the day, but FishBase notes it also feeds on crustaceans. Aquarium specimens should be offered marine algae and dried seaweed several times daily, supplemented occasionally with meaty marine foods.
Compatibility
Acanthurus lineatus is an aggressive, diurnal mid-water swimmer. In the wild, large males control well-defined feeding territories and harems of females. This temperament makes it suited only to very large systems housing robust tankmates such as wrasses, clownfish, angelfish and sturdy triggerfish, while other tangs of similar shape must be avoided. The venomous caudal spine can inflict painful wounds on handlers.
Reef compatibility
The species does not consume coral and is considered reef-safe, although its size and aggression demand a spacious reef. Maintain carbonate hardness of 8-12 dKH and specific gravity of 1.024-1.026.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern, assessed in 2010 via FishBase.
Lined Tang (Acanthurus lineatus): Breeding Guide
Overview
The Lined Tang, Acanthurus lineatus, ranges across the Indo-Pacific from East Africa and the Mascarenes to the Hawaiian, Marquesas and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef. FishBase gives a maximum total length of 38 cm and a shallow depth range of 0 to 15 m, typically just 1 to 3 m in surge zones. Maturity is reached at about 18 cm.
It is among the most aggressive surgeonfishes toward conspecifics, which is why it is usually kept singly in very large systems. There are no records of captive breeding.
Sexing
FishBase reports that a large male controls well-defined feeding territories and harems of females. This social structure indicates a dominant, territory-holding male among a group of females, but no simple external feature for routine sexing is documented in the consulted sources.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
According to FishBase, A. lineatus forms spawning aggregations but spawns in pairs. Unusually for the genus, spawning is diurnal: courtship occurs at various times of day, peaks in the morning and may continue from midday to afternoon, and is often confined to ebb tides that carry eggs off the reef.
A pair rises briefly off the bottom to release eggs and sperm into the water column. Fertilization is external and there is no parental care of the floating eggs.
Egg & Fry Care
Eggs are pelagic and disperse with the ebb-tide current. They hatch into transparent acronurus larvae that live in the plankton, a stage that in surgeonfishes can exceed 39 days before settlement.
The lengthy planktonic phase and dependence on ocean plankton mean larvae cannot be reared in a closed system. Surgeonfish larval culture remains limited to research aquaculture.
Common Challenges
- Extreme territoriality makes it unsafe to keep more than one specimen, so a spawning pair cannot be maintained at home.
- Pair spawning happens in open water with no clutch to collect or guard.
- Acronurus larvae require an extended pelagic drift on natural plankton that aquariums cannot supply.