Acanthuridae

ocean surgeonfish

Acanthurus tractus

A species resurrected from synonymy in two thousand eleven

• Tropical
• Regional distribution
• Marine fish
• Atlantic Ocean
• Central America and the Caribbean
• North America
• Deep-bodied
• Compressed cross-section
• Medium
• Tropical fish

Acanthurus tractus, the five-band surgeonfish, ocean surgeon, or ocean surgeonfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Acanthuridae found in the western Atlantic Ocean, Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Until recently, it was considered a synonym of Acanthurus bahianus, but its status as a separate species was resurrected in 2011.