Tropical Marine Centre has received a very rare surgeonfish that they believe to be a cross between the Mustard tang, Acanthurus guttatus, and the Convict tang, Acanthurus triostegus. We’ve seen some Achilles X Goldrim tang hybrids lately and Jake Adams even told of Polyzona X Convict tang hybrids, but we’ve never before seen a Mustard X Convict, and 50-year-old livestock wholesaler TMC says it’s the first one they’ve ever had.
Looking like a perfect AI render between the two, this one-off live specimen has inherited the body shape of the convict tang, but the underlying pattern of the Mustard, with feint creamy yellow here and there like an Indonesian convict tang, but not the bright yellow ventral fins or tail of the Mustard tang, which is also known as a White-spotted tang. With Mustard tang patterns darkening with mood and maturity, we look forward to seeing how this hybrid’s pattern is maintained or if it will change as it matures.
Both species are widespread across the Indo-Pacific but this happy accident settled and was collected on the South Coast of Java, where big waves roll in from Australia and smash onto the reef there. This high-energy surge environment is where mustard tangs call home. As to why we haven’t seen this natural hybridization before – TMC told Reef Builders that El Nino may have played a factor, as water temperatures at the beginning of 2023 were much hotter than usual.
We are big fans of both Acanthurus guttatus and triostegus, and we’re in no doubt that this probably very athletic lovechild will relish high flow and grazing algae. It’s not an instant eye-catcher like a Zebrasoma scopas koi tang, but it’s actually much rarer, and we’d love to see this fish in the flesh, in a suitably large reef aquarium environment. It really is one of a kind.
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