Purple surgeonfish
Acanthurus xanthopterus Valenciennes, 1835
Status not recordedbony fish
The purple surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus) is a species in the family Acanthuridae, order Acanthuriformes.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the purple surgeonfish
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the purple surgeonfish live?
Not recorded
Is the purple surgeonfish endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the purple surgeonfish classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderAcanthuriformes
- familyAcanthuridae
- genusAcanthurus
- SpeciesAcanthurus xanthopterus Valenciennes, 1835
Synonyms Acanthurus crestonis, Acanthurus gahmoides, Acanthurus rasi, Acanthurus reticulatus, Hepatus aquilinus, Hepatus crestonis, Hepatus guntheri, Hepatus xanthopterus, Teuthis crestonis, Teuthis guentheri, Teuthis güntheri, Teuthis xanthopterus
Other names and names in other languages (71)
- Cuvier's surgeonfishEnglish
- Ring-tailed surgeonfishEnglish
- Ringtailed surgeonfishEnglish
- Yellow-mask surgeonEnglish
- Yellow-masked surgeonEnglish
- Yellowfin surgeonfishEnglish
- Yellowmask surgeonfishEnglish
- Geelvin-doktervisAfrikaans
- FardhArabic
- Peix cirurgià d'aleta grogaCatalan
- Igainguncal
- MungitCebuano
- UgupaoChamorro
- 粗皮仔Chinese
- bodlok žlutoploutvýCzech
- Gulfinnet KirurgfiskDanish
- Gelbflossen-DoktorfischGerman
- Pez CirujanoSpanish
- Kollasemaskiga kirurgkalaEstonian
- BalagiFijian
- Chirurgien à ailes jaunesFrench
- PualuHawaiian
- Pesce chirurgo di CuvierItalian
- クロハギJapanese
- 노랑무늬양쥐돔Korean
- KabatMarshallese
- DebamMalay
- Seliselinlg
- MesekuukPalauan
- Cirurgião Barbatana AmarelaPortuguese
- Indangansgd
- OravaSinhala
- KaxanSomali
- ParaiTahitian
- ปลาขี้ตังเบ็ดปีกเหลืองThai
- LabahitaFilipino
- Te kapalangiTuvalu
- Meitoroot
- Palangiwls
- 黃鰭刺尾魚Chinese
- AnfoosArabic
- FaridhArabic
- Gamashuwagcal
- Hugupau dankulocal
- HugupaoChamorro
- 黄鳍刺尾鲷Chinese
- Chancho Aleta AmarillaSpanish
- cirujano aleta amarillaSpanish
- Cirujano de Aleta AmarillaSpanish
- Navajón Aleta AmarillaSpanish
- Pez Cirujano PúrpuraSpanish
- Balagi nawaFijian
- IakereFijian
- Chirurgien à nageoires jaunesFrench
- Chirurgien à pectorale jauneFrench
- Chirurgien aile jauneFrench
- Poisson Docteur à Nageoires JaunesFrench
- Pesce chirurgo pinna giallaItalian
- Pesce chirurgo pinne gialleItalian
- KurohagiJapanese
- Barat-baratMalay
- Debam sirip kuningMalay
- DengkisMalay
- PeelaSinhala
- para'iTahitian
- MangadlitFilipino
- Apalaniroot
- Kapalagiroot
- Palagiroot
- Pangangiroot
- 黃鰭刺尾鯛Chinese
Relatives of the purple surgeonfish
Other species in the same genus Acanthurus.
Blue surgeonfish
Acanthurus leucosternon
Clown tang
Acanthurus lineatus
Convictfish
Acanthurus triostegus
Palani
Acanthurus dussumieri
Sohal
Acanthurus sohal
Redspot tang
Acanthurus achilles
ComparePurple surgeonfish vs Blue surgeonfishPurple surgeonfish vs Clown tangPurple surgeonfish vs ConvictfishPurple surgeonfish vs Palani
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the purple surgeonfish?
The purple surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus) belongs to the family Acanthuridae in the order Acanthuriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Purple surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-surgeonfish
“Purple surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-surgeonfish.
@misc{purple_surgeonfish_2026,
title = {Purple surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-surgeonfish},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}