Acanthurus leucosternon
Encyclopedia
Acanthurus leucosternon is a tropical fish with the common names powder blue tang and powderblue surgeonfish.
.
in clear reef
settings, from Indonesia
and Christmas Island
westward to eastern Africa
to the Andaman Sea
.
The tang is uncommonly harvested for anything other than the marine aquarium
industry. It is a commonly-sold fish that is moderately difficult to care for, although its popularity is easily exceeded by the Blue tang
and Yellow Tang
. They are very prone to Cryptocaryon irritans (marine itch) infections so be careful when purchasing. Most people will advise to observe in your local fish stores for a couple weeks; this is a poor test. Most aquarium fish providers run low levels of copper
in their systems to keep parasites at bay, but not enough to kill the parasites, when they are brought home they should be kept in an isolation tank for at least 6 weeks before introducing them to the display tank. Proper hyposalinity treatment that fully cures Marine Ich is required on all Acanthurus Tangs. They are reef safe and are compatible with most species.
, a global IT services provider.
It appears in the Wii
game Endless Ocean.
Appearance
The powder blue tang is light blue with yellow and white highlighted fins. Its face is a uniform black with a white outline. The fish does not undergo color changes as it matures, as some tangs, surgeonfish and unicornfish do. The species can grow to a maximum length of 25 cm.Diet
The powder blue tang, like most fish in the Acanthuridae family, is omnivorous, eating mostly benthic algaeAlgae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
.
Range
Acanthurus leucosternon's natural distribution is in the Indian OceanIndian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
in clear reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
settings, from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Christmas Island
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
westward to eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to the Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
.
Economic value
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
industry. It is a commonly-sold fish that is moderately difficult to care for, although its popularity is easily exceeded by the Blue tang
Blue tang
Paracanthurus hepatus is a species of Indo-Pacific surgeonfish. A popular fish in marine aquaria, it is the only member of the genus Paracanthurus...
and Yellow Tang
Yellow tang
The yellow tang is a saltwater fish species of the family Acanthuridae. It is one of the most popular aquarium fish.-Appearance:...
. They are very prone to Cryptocaryon irritans (marine itch) infections so be careful when purchasing. Most people will advise to observe in your local fish stores for a couple weeks; this is a poor test. Most aquarium fish providers run low levels of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
in their systems to keep parasites at bay, but not enough to kill the parasites, when they are brought home they should be kept in an isolation tank for at least 6 weeks before introducing them to the display tank. Proper hyposalinity treatment that fully cures Marine Ich is required on all Acanthurus Tangs. They are reef safe and are compatible with most species.
Other
The powder blue tang is also used as the logo and trademark of Atos OriginAtos Origin
Atos S.A. is an international information technology corporation which operates in 42 countries worldwide, with over 78,500 employees...
, a global IT services provider.
It appears in the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
game Endless Ocean.