Naso brevirostris
Spotted Unicornfish
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Perciformes
Family
Acanthuridae
Genus
Naso
Species
Naso brevirostris
Colours
Distinguishing features
Brown to grey, often paler anteriorly, subadults with small dark spots on head and body, adults with vertical lines on body. Tail white with a large dark spot at base, truncate or slightly rounded, no trailing filaments. Adults with a horn that has near-horizontal darker lines, base of horn almost directly above snout, starts as a bump in juveniles about 10 cm long.
Size
- Up to 60 cm (Fork Length)
Depth range
- From 2 m to 122 m
Synonyms
Interesting facts
- Male Unicornfish have longer horns. This is probably like Moose, where the males with longer Horns attract more mates
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Inhabit mid-waters along steep outer lagoon and seaward reef drop-offs. Also found along rocky shores (FishBase).
Web resources
References
- Allen, G., R. Steene, P. Humann and N. Deloach (2003). Reef fish identification: Tropical Pacific New World Publications Inc., Jacksonville, FL, USA.
- Bellwood, D.R. and C.J. Fulton (2008). Sediment-mediated suppression of herbivory on coral reefs: decreasing resilience to rising sea levels and climate change? Limnology and Oceanography, 53: 2695-2701. LIRS catalog number 1259.
- Binning, S.A. and C.J. Fulton (2011). Non-lethal measurement of pectoral fin aspect ratio in coral-reef fishes. Journal of Fish Biology, 79: 812-818. LIRS catalog number 1425.
- View all references