Acanthurus leucopareius

Acanthurus leucopareius, the whitebar surgeonfish or headband surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Pacific Ocean.

Acanthurus leucopareius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Acanthuridae
Genus: Acanthurus
Species:
A. leucopareius
Binomial name
Acanthurus leucopareius
Synonyms[2]
  • Teuthis leucopareius Jenkins, 1903
  • Hepatus leucopareius (Jenkins, 1903)
  • Teuthis bishopi Bryan & Herre, 1903
  • Teuthis umbra Jenkins, 1903
  • Hepatus umbra (Jenkins, 1903)

Taxonomy

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Acanthurus leucopareius was first formally described in 1903 as Teuthis leucopareius by the American physiologist, histologist and naturalist Oliver Peebles Jenkins with its type locality given as Honolulu on Oahu in Hawaii.[3] The genus Acanthurus is one of two genera in the tribe Acanthurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamilies in the family Acanthuridae.[4]

Etymology

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Acanthurus leucopareius has the specific name leucopareius, this combines the Greek words leukos, meaning "white", and pareius, meaning "cheek", this refers to the vertical pale band running over the operculum.[5]

Description

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Acanthurus leucopareius has its dorsal fin supported by 9 spines and between 25 and 27 soft rays while the anal fin is supported by 3 spines and 23 to 25 soft rays.[2] The body is not very deep and has a depth which fits into its standard length between 1.7 and 2.5 times. The caudal fin is emarginate to lunate and has no rear white margin. There is a whitish band, edged with dark brown running from the origin of the dorsal fin across the operculum.[6] This species has a maximum total length of 25 cm (9.8 in).[2]

Distribution and habitat

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Acanthurus leucopareius has an anti-tropical distribution in the Pacific Ocean. In the Northern Pacific Ocean it occurs in the Marianas Islands, Marcus Island, southern Japan and Hawaii while in the Southern Pacific it is found at New Caledonia, Rapa Iti, Tuamotus, Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island. This species is found in the surge zone in areas of where there are boulders at depths between 1 and 75 m (3 ft 3 in and 246 ft 1 in) where it aggregates in small groups and grazes on filamentous algae.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Abesamis, R.; Clements, K.D.; Choat, J.H.; et al. (2012). "Acanthurus leucopareius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012: e.T178011A1520517. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T178011A1520517.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Acanthurus leucoppareius". FishBase. June 2023 version.
  3. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Acanthurus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  5. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  6. ^ J. E. Randall (2001). "Acanthuridae". In Kent E. Carpenter and Volker H. Niem (eds.). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 6: Bony fishes part 4 (Labridae to Latimeriidae), estuarine crocodiles, sea turtles, sea snakes and marine mammals (PDF). FAO Rome.