surgeonfish

IPA: sˈɝdʒʌnfɪʃ

Any of many species of reef-dwelling fishes, most of them brightly coloured, of the family Acanthuridae. They bear erectile, scalpel-like, dangerously sharp spines on either side of the caudal peduncle.

Examples of "surgeonfish" in Sentences

Acanthurus olivaceus - surgeonfish grazing on algae on new reef material.
Deep-reef fish include squirrelfish, soldierfish, surgeonfish, snappers and emperors.
Parrotfish, surgeonfish, northern sea urchin and other species also cause feeding damage on seaweed in Japanese waters.
Doctorfish typically feed above the reefs and surgeonfish typically feed in sandy areas and sea grass beds adjacent to the reef.
In Year 1, we used the redband parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) and the ocean surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus); in Year 2, we used the redband parrotfish and the princess parrotfish (Scarus taeniopterus).
On new substrates, rapid grazing by ocean surgeonfish and princess parrotfish kept communities in an early successional stage dominated by short, filamentous algae and crustose coralline algae that did not suppress coral growth.
Other important components of the fringing reef ecosystem include algae (brown, red and green), marine invertebrates (shrimp, lobster, crabs and sea urchins) and fishes (parrotfish, wrasses, damselfish, surgeonfish, goatfish, jacks and sharks).