Need help ID those unicornfish
 

Hi,

I am curious about unicornfish. They look all the same to me. I found some nice pics on fotolia but I am not sure which one is which one.

Do you have any idea what each are: Unicornfish #1, Unicornfish #2, Unicornfish #3

Ho and while I am here, do you know what surgeon fish this is: Unknown. I think this is a nice one but can't figure out who it is.

Thanks! :biggrin:

I have no idea - but I'm certain they will not fit in your nano!! :) Bump anyhow.

I think the first one is Naso brivirostris...possibly Naso annulatus...or possibly another one. Regardless.... Not commonly collected for aquariums. Huge. I think the Vancouver Aquarium has one similar in their community tank.

The 2nd one is Naso vlamingi. Commonly called the Bignose Unicorn, or Vlamingi Tang...but sloppily called "unicorn tang" by many shops. Very commonly seen in LFS as cute juveniles that have blue spots. Is the fastest growing fish anyone has ever seen. I have one that has grown from about 1.5" to 10" in less than 9 months. Again, reaches size of 2 feet or more.

The only thing I can say about the third one is that it looks malnurished. I have no idea what that one is.

I expect to see N. unicornis in your list. The blue-spine unicorn is not too difficult to get in the aquarium trade. It also gets pretty large though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Na...lauklingen.jpg

And finally...there is of course N. literatus or N. elegans....the fish that are most commonly called "Naso Tang". A common name that is clearly inadequate as it would describe a huge number of Naso species.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...ry.php?id=1264

Gee...can you tell they are my favorite?

Oh...your "unknown" is not related to the unicorn tangs (Naso). It does seem to have a big nose, but the single tail spine gives it away as unrelated. Could be Acanthurus of some type...but I'm no expert for sure.

1) Naso unicornis
2) Naso vlamingi
3) Naso unicornis (juv)
4) Don't know

1 - Naso brevirostris
2 - Naso vlamingi
3 - Naso annulatus
4 - Acanthurus dussumieri

JMO.

There are no spots on the first one so I don't think it is a brevirostris.

Hi! Thanks for your help. I don't plan to keep any of those but was curious about them. They look awesome! I also want to add some more of that species to my blog so I need to learn a little.

Thanks!:biggrin:

Spots? On the caudal penducle? Check out pg. 385 of "Marine Fishes. A PocketExpert Guide", by Scott Michael. That fish shows two spots on the caudal penducle, otherwise the two fish are very similar. I'm thinking the pic posted here does not show the caudal penducle spots due to the angle? Could be wrong.

Cheers,

I was actually referring to the spots on the sides of the face actually.

Don't have that book myself, but I was going by the pictures here:
http://www.marinelifephotography.com...cornfishes.htm