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One of over 70 species of surgeonfish, the blue tang inhabits coastal waters, coral reefs, and inshore rocky or grassy areas between 6 feet to 131 feet deep from New York to Brazil and around Ascension Island. Also called blue barber, blue doctor, blue tang surgeonfish, yellow barber and yellow doctorfish, the names allude to two things. Barber, tang, and doctor refer to the extremely sharp spines on each side of the fish’s tail, which are said to resemble surgeon’s scalpels. They usually remain flat against the fish’s body, extending only when it is threatened or alarmed. As the tail thrashes from side to side, they can inflict serious damage to an enemy.
Yellow and blue refer to the fish’s color which changes as it matures. Young individuals are bright yellow with blue spots near their eyes. As they mature, they become blue over most of their body with a yellow tail. Full-grown adults are entirely a rich blue with narrow dark lines running the length of the body.
Adults average 12 inches in length and live singly, in pairs, or sometimes in groups as large as 10 to 12. Occasionally they form larger groups on reefs. The fish feeds on algae, using its sharp teeth to rip it from rocks and coral. Their diet is important to the health of reefs, preventing the algae from overgrowing and suffocating the coral. On reefs, they rest in narrow holes and crevices, protected from predators like tuna, bar jacks and tiger groupers.
Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Yi Fan (in reef); Photo © Nancy Nehring (near plant).
