Powder blue tang hybrid with Acanthurus bariene is a unique one-of-a kind surgeonfish

Posted on January 25th, 2012 by 2

Acanthurus leucosternon, more commonly known as the powder blue surgeonfish is a rather promiscuous species as far as surgeonfishes go. Although hybrids between surgeonfishes are uncommonly documented, there are some well known examples involving the powder blue surgeonfish.

South Africa’s Oceanseekers scored what appears to be, according to them, a hybrid between Acanthurus leucosternon and Acanthurus bariene. Apart from the blue coloration on the body, the other characteristic traits that suggests hybridization with A. leucosternon is the somewhat faint markings on the tail as well as the white chin. What do you think it is? Whatever it is, that’s one pretty unique surgeonfish. More pictures after the break.

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  • Anonymous

    This is a classic example of an accidental fertilization, as I described in my article, “Accidental Selection” in Coral Magazine vol 8 number 4. The parents spawned at about the same time and in close proximity. That is one special fish!

  • ocean seeker

    Hi Julian 

    I am the photographer of the above fish and the specimen is indeed unique, hence me spending the time and effort to photograph this rare fish.  Acknowledgement must be given to the LFS SAReefkeeping.com who sourced this hybrid from their suppliers.Its rather unfortunate that the colours in the pictures posted here have been oversaturated somewhat and not a true reflection of the actual coloration.  My copyright notice on the forum where these pics were extracted does prohibit any alteration to the photographs.I would be happy to supply the original photos to this website so that we present Nature’s creations as close as they appear in real life.This specimen has not been identified correctly as yet.  What combination of species would you say that this hybrid could have been made up of.

    When are you visiting Cape Town again?

    Best Wishes

    Oceanseeker, Cape Town