Palette Surgeonfish

• The juveniles hide among the branches of Pocillopora corals and barely leave them; the adults range further and graze in groups across the reef slope.
• On each side of the tail base it carries a retractable spine as sharp as a scalpel, which is where the name surgeonfish comes from.
• It was first bred in captivity in 2016, after six years of work, to reduce the pressure of the aquarium trade on wild populations.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)

Habitat and environment

Clear-water coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific, between 2 and 40 m and normally between 10 and 40 m, in areas with current; the juveniles shelter among branching corals

Sexual maturity

Length at first maturity about 14.9 cm

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Paracanthurus hepatus