Acanthurus chirurgus (Bloch, 1787)

Triay-Portella, Raül, Pajuelo, José G., Manent, Pablo, Espino, Fernando, Ruiz-Díaz, Raquel, Lorenzo, José M. & González, José A., 2015, New records of non-indigenous fishes (Perciformes and Tetraodontiformes) from the Canary Islands (north-eastern Atlantic), Cybium 39 (3), pp. 163-174 : 168-169

Acanthurus chirurgus (Bloch, 1787) , doctorfish

Material examined. – MMF 44368, one mature female, 307 mm TL, 244 mm SL, dike Reina Sofía, 28°07’N 15°24’W, 18-19 m over a bottom of 21 m of depth, 21 Mar . 2015, rocky breakwater ( Fig. 2H ).

Sightings and catches. – Once, n = 1, same locality ( Fig. 3 ).

Remarks. – A subtropical reef-associated species, living from 2 ( Baensch and Debelius, 1997) to 25 m of depth ( Desoutter, 1990), usually at 2-15 m, between 22 and 25°C ( Baensch and Debelius, 1997), ranging 37°N, 7°S, 89°W- 34°W ( Robins and Ray, 1986). Inhabits shallow reefs or rocky areas. Found in loose aggregations ( Lieske and Myers, 1994). Mainly diurnal. Ingests sand when feeding on algae ( Randall, 1996), other plants, detritus, worms, molluscs and other invertebrates ( Robins and Ray, 1986). Maximum length published is 390 mm TL (male) ( Figueiredo et al., 2002). Larvae are planktonic ( Figueiredo et al., 2002). An amphi-Atlantic species ( Robins and Ray, 1986). West Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA and Bermuda to southern Brazil. East Atlantic: Senegal, the Cape Verdes ( Osório, 1909; Brito et al., 1999; Reiner, 2005; Hanel and John, 2015) and Ascension Island ( Rocha et al., 2002; Bingeman and Bingeman, 2005; Wirtz et al., 2014; Anderson et al., 2015).

This is the first record for A. chirurgus from the Canary Islands.

Figures

Figure 2. - Non-native species introduced to the Canaries. A: Holocentrus adscensionis; B: Cephalopholis taeniops; C: Paranthias furcifer; D: Prognathodes marcellae; E: Abudefduf saxatilis; F: Abudefduf hoefleri; G: Acanthurus bahianus; H: Acanthurus coeruleus; I: Acanthurus chirurgus; J: Acanthurus monroviae; K: Cantherhines pullus. Scale bars = 5 cm.

Figure 3. - Collection locations for the new records from the Canaries. 1: Holocentrus adscensionis, 2: Cephalopholis taeniops, 3: Paranthias furcifer, 4: Prognathodes marcellae, 5: Abudefduf saxatilis, 6: Abudefduf hoefleri, 7: Acanthurus bahianus, 8: Acanthurus coeru- leus, 9: Acanthurus chirurgus, 10: Acanthurus monroviae, 11: Cantherhines pullus.