Is this a chocolate tang or a black spot or something else

[Angelajean]

Hello,
Over the weekend, we saw this fish. My friend said it was a chocolate tang, but I think it is a juvenile black spot tang. Which do you think it is? Or is it something else.?
Thanks,

 

[Angelajean]

He has white lips as well.

 

[BL1]

Hard to tell on my phone but looks more like an acanthurus mata to me

Definitely not a chocolate though.

 

[Angelajean]

I don't think so he was bluish with lines like the one you posted. His dorsal spine had a royal blue line with a yellow dorsal fin. His tail starts out white with a faint blackish spot on tail. Yellow around his eye.

 

[FishyReef]

I'm not sure that its a chocolate - the coloration on the face of the mimic tangs is usually different than the body coloration, but the one you posted seems to have a pretty uniform body/face coloration. But it could still be changing. What size is it?

I was trying to figure out other options as well and what is throwing me is that the tail is white/light colored on the tips/end instead of white/light near the base of the tail. The spine is also dark instead of light. The various tangs I am thinking of have white at the base of the tail and a white spine, which is opposite of the one you posted. Its hard because a lot of tangs shift coloration between juvenile and adult forms and yours is probably somewhere in between so is going to be harder to identify. I think the black spot is a good guess, my only hesitation is that the snout/forehead on the black spot appears much rounder than the one in your photo. I'm thinking it could be a juvenile fowleri or dussumieri, or maybe a blochii. I'll see if I can come up with anything else!

 

[FishyReef]

I don't think so he was bluish with lines like the one you posted. His dorsal spine had a royal blue line with a yellow dorsal fin. His tail starts out white with a faint blackish spot on tail. Yellow around his eye.

When you say "black spot on tail" where on the tail are you refering to? Was it a single black spot or were there two? Or are you refering to the spine?

 

[Angelajean]

It's about 3" right now. My friend bought him and brought it to me for a late birthday present. I bought a two spot bristletooth yesterday that was in the same tank as he was. We just put our 150 on layaway. We will pick it up in a couple of weeks when our income tax check comes in. We ordered stand and canopy as well. Now I need to clean out my living room. We ordered more rock, powerheads, etc.

 

[Angelajean]

I'll take some more pics as soon as the tank settles down. Hopefully Maryland doesn't drag their feet on my tax return. I am also going to get the 6 line and go for fairy wrasses. I like them alot.

 

[FishyReef]

Sounds like you've got quite the fun project ahead of you! I can't wait to see more pics of this guy and see what he turns in to! I was browsing through quality marine's photos of tangs to see if I could come up with other ideas and literally have like 6-8 possibilities LOL. This guy along with the bristletooth and YT, fairy wrasses, and more are going to make a great reef! And I totally say go for it with the wrasses. I think the only ones I would not mix together would be scotts and whip-fin - from what I've heard they do not play nice with others. I've also heard that flame and red velvets don't get along. I have 5 fairy wrasses, one of which is a red velvet, and I've found as I add more fairies, the less territorial the red velvet becomes. He still flashes his fins daily but its never directed at anyone anymore. Everyone else seems to get along just fine (though as i type this my orange back and lubbocki are chasing each other around the tank - never seen this before!) Anyhow, I look forward to checking out your 150g build!

 

[Angelajean]

Here is a pic of his faint black spot as best as I can get it.

 

[FishyReef]

I think that black spot is his scalpel/spine. That pic is better of the tail though, so his tail is white and then turns dark and isn't actually forked like it looked in the first pic, which helps clear up some of my confusion! I'll get back to you with ideas :)

 

[FishyReef]

Okay, in addition to the ones already mentioned (chocolate, black spot, mata) here are my additional guesses - I'd try googling them and look at the images and see what you think. I've posted links to the Quality Marine postings of them as well.

Acanthurus bahianus (Ocean Surgeon / Acanthurus bahianus / Wild Tangs - Quality Marine) - The google images look more like your fish than the QM pics

Acanthurus nigrofuscus (Lavender / Acanthurus nigrofuscus / Wild Tangs - Quality Marine) - again, google images look more like yours

Acanthurus dussumieri (Dussumier / Acanthurus dussumieri / Wild Tangs - Quality Marine)

Acanthurus fowleri
(Fowler's Surgeonfish / Acanthurus fowleri / Wild Tangs - Quality Marine)

Acanthurus nigroris (Cuvier's Bluelined Surgeon / Acanthurus nigroris / Wild Tangs - Quality Marine)

I still think the forehead on yours might be too round for the black spot, but coloration wise it is very similar. I don't think its a chocolate but if its changing then the full adult coloration might not yet be showing, and in the second picture it does appear to have a lighter body from the face which would be closer to a mimic tang such as the chocolate. Its interesting to me how many of these tang species look similar with the white at the base of the tail, the yellow dorsal fin with blue lining, yellow around the eye, and white ring around the mouth. A few of the species I linked to have black spots right at the base of the tail as well, so if the black spot that you are seeing isn't the scalpel/spine, then it might be one of those. Regardless, its a beautiful fish - happy birthday!!

 

[Angelajean]

I do hope it is smaller than the black spots because there is no way I could have a 250-300 gallon tank unless my hubby and I wanted to sleep on a twin bed together and I would give up my bedroom. Don't think that would be good. I hate to get fish and then have to get rid of them.
I think time will tell. He has been in the tank less that 24 hours so his color may become clearer in the next few days. I'll post more pics as I get the chance. Whatever he/she is likes to blow bubbles at the top of the water. Therefore the name may be Bubbles.
LOL

 

[BL1]

When your talking about the black spot, are you referring to the scalpel about 1/2 in front of the tail fin?

 

[Angelajean]

When your talking about the black spot, are you referring to the scalpel about 1/2 in front of the tail fin?

The black spot I am referring to is at the end of his tail after the white band. It is a dark gray to charcoal black tinged. I think it may be some type of mimic and possibly it is a chocolate (mimic) tang and this is why. I read an article and then couldn't find my way back to the page UGH. But the article said, that mimic tangs can vary greatly in their look. They can mimic whatever fish they are hanging with while their caudal peduncle spine strengthens. This allows them to mimic a pygmy angel and other fish which don't have as many enemies and they have a better chance of survival.

This afternoon he's hanging with the two spot bristletooth and his coloring is similar to it.
Now the lighting in these pics is better because more of the lights are on. We have kept the lighting turned down some because we wanted to decrease stress for a little bit.

 

[FishyReef]

I really don't think its a mimic tang; they don't have the white ring at the base of their tail like yours does, and have a dark dorsal and anal fins, where your's has a yellow dorsal fin and dark anal fin. If it were a juvenile mimic changing to an adult then I think the anal and dorsal fins would change at the same rate, and the body color would be lighter than the face color. I really don't know what it is at this point, maybe a juvenile dussemieri or black spot changing to an adult? This might be an instance when we just have to wait for it to get bigger! I really wouldn't worry about it at this point since you are getting a 150g (is it the 6ft long version?) - even if it is a larger tang, it will be fine in the 150 for awhile. And by the time it outgrows it (if it does), you will have a better idea of which tang it is. If all else fails, send the pics to wet web media and see if they can help....

 

[Angelajean]

I so not remember which we settled on. I'll have to check. My husband ended up ordering it because my head was spinning by the time we looked and looked.

 

[Pninja]

Hard to tell on my phone but looks more like an acanthurus mata to me

Definitely not a chocolate though.

It's a dusermarii tang

 

[Angelajean]

I am leaning toward the black spot as top runner for what he is. I will pot more pic as he grows.