Sohal Tang (Acanthurus sohal): Breeding Guide

Acanthurus sohal is a large, intensely aggressive Red Sea surgeonfish that broadcasts eggs into the surge-swept reef edge. Its pelagic larvae and territoriality make home breeding impossible.

Overview

The Sohal Tang, Acanthurus sohal, is a Western Indian Ocean species ranging from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. FishBase gives a maximum total length of 40 cm and a depth range of 0 to 20 m. It is described as aggressive and territorial and lives along the seaward edges of reefs exposed to surge, where it feeds on algae such as Sargassum and filamentous green species in water of 24 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Because of its strong aggression it is usually housed singly in very large systems, and there are no records of captive breeding.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

FishBase lists reproduction, spawning and egg sections for A. sohal but provides no species-specific text. As an Acanthurus surgeonfish it is a pelagic broadcast spawner: the genus generally spawns at dusk in short pair- or group-spawning ascents near the seaward reef edge, often timed to lunar phases so that currents disperse the eggs.

Given its preference for surge-swept outer reef, spawning would occur near that high-energy reef edge. Fertilization is external in open water, with no nest or parental care.

Egg & Fry Care

Eggs are pelagic and float in open water, hatching into transparent acronurus larvae. As in other surgeonfishes, this planktonic stage can last more than 39 days before settlement onto a reef.

The long oceanic drift and dependence on natural plankton make captive larval rearing unattainable. Surgeonfish larviculture is limited to research aquaculture programs.

Common Challenges

• Extreme aggression makes it unsafe to keep more than one specimen, ruling out a maintained spawning pair.
• Open-water spawning at the surge-swept reef edge leaves no eggs to collect.
• The pelagic acronurus larvae require weeks of ocean plankton drift that aquariums cannot supply.