Acanthurus leucosternon

Acanthurus leucosternon

Acanthurus Leucosternon is a fish species that lives on open plains and usually in large numbers. The fish is supposedly the COW among the surgeonfish, it spends the whole day pecking and pulling on filamentous algae and other algae. Like other Acathurus, it is not recommended to put several specimens together, while hundreds live together in nature. What is striking is that this fish needs a lot of swimming space and is a fish that shows that he / she is the boss. What often occurs during the offer in the shops that the fish is lean, so that the intestines are stuck together and therefore create a vacuum, so that the fish does not accept any other food, after which it dies. A side note is that this fish, like (almost) all other fish, quickly suffers from skin disorders (Ich) and must therefore be closely observed. In the aquarium, Acanthurus leucosternon is a fairly shy fish and will dart away at the slightest slight.

Warning

This species has a razor-sharp blade at the base of its caudal fin. These retractable scalpel-like prongs are a natural way to defend themselves. They only unfold when the fish is excited or feels threatened. However, they can cause very deep flesh wounds, often leading to infections. The infections are characterized by swelling and discoloration of the wound. This can last for several hours. Due to the infections caused by scalpel wounds, it is suspected that they have venom glands.

Author

Jan Bukkems – Aquavisie

Copyright images

Nonn – CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
zsispeo – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0