Surgeon Fish

The first question to answer is what is the difference between surgeonfish and a tang? Well, the answer is that there is no difference; some of the fish in the group are invariably known as tangs, such as the regal tang, while others are known as surgeons, such as the clown surgeon, and a few are known by both names, e.g. the achilles tang or achilles surgeon. Here, we use both names, with no biological difference intended.

Surgeons are so-called because of their 'scalpels', the two sharp bony points on either side of the body at the base of the tail fin. The scalpels can give a nasty cut to a clumsy human, but are very rarely used on other fish. Perhaps being wise to the dangers, other fish are not stupid enough to tangle with the surgeons or indeed with the tangs, which also have these weapons.

Tangs and surgeons are magnificent fish, sporting the boldest and brightest markings. They are a good size, they grow steadily, they are relatively hardy, they cause very few problems with other fish and the yare easy to feed. They are safe with tiny and large fish alike, and the yare ideal inhabitants for an invertebrate tank.

Tangs present only two problems. Firstly, it is absolutely essential that they are given plenty of green matter in their diet. Therefore, they should only be housed in an aquarium with plenty of light and guaranteed supply of green algae covering the rocks on which they can nibble. However, it is not a good idea to house them in tanks in which you wish to cultivate macro algae, such as Caulker, since they will tear this to shreds as a matter of course. Secondly, although tangs and surgeons can he mixed with virtually any other marine fish, they do cause problems among themselves. As a firm rule, you should never try and keep two of the same type together, with the one exception of the regal tang, which does not seem to mind in what number it is kept .Generally speaking, it is safer not to attempt to keep more than one fish of each genus. But, as with many marine species, it is usually in order to house a small shoal of six or more of a kind together.

The Japanese tang Masco literati - an affable fish - is also known as the lipstick tang because its orange- or red-rimmed lips look like they have been freshly outlined in bright lipstick.

The best-known surgeon in the Acanthuses group is the appropriately named powder blue surgeon (A. Leicester), a popular and frequently seen fish that will grow to 15cm(6in) long in a tank .Others include the rarely sevenfold surgeon (A. glaucomatous),the fairly rare and disease-prone

Achilles tang (A. achilles) and the equally rare and even more exotically marked majestic tang (A. bleaker).More often seen is the clown surgeon(A. linnets), which seems to thrive best in groups of its own kind. Allaire usually bought at 7.5-10cm(.3-4in) and rarely grow to more than about Al 5-18cm(6-7in) in captivity.

One group of tangs are all known as sail fin, namely the yellowtail (Zebra soma fleeces), the brown sail fin (Z. scopes)and the striped sail fin (Z. verifier).They are all personalities in their downright, but because of its bright single, the yellow tang is one of the most popular marine fish. A regal tang and a yellow sail fin tang together in an aquarium provide startling contrast. ,Sail fin tangs need green food even more than other tangs and surgeons; even a few days without algae can cause them to become thin and emaciated. Sail fins rarely exceed 10cm(4in) and make ideal community fish.