Acanthurus dussumieri

[Gary Majchrzak]

Acanthurus dussumieri is also known as the Pencilled Surgeon or Eyeline Surgeon. There's not many threads on RC regarding them- this species grows very large and an adult will require a very large aquarium.
Who has experience with this species?

link to fishbase page:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?genusname=Acanthurus&speciesname=dussumieri

[Capt_Cully]

Gar, I believe I saw some of those in Hawaii (watch your feet, I'm dropping names :thumbsup: ). I was not sure what type of tang it was, but I will tell you, it was HUMONGOUS!

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's prob what you saw- duss are commonly seen in Hawaii'

[Gary Majchrzak]

I might add that I would never place one of these in my 225 reef aquarium :)

[Capt_Cully]

I've been trying to find a picture for another type of tang that we saw. It had the familiar tang shape as the one above, it was fairly colorful, however it was 18-24 inches long. Immense!!! they were hunkered down under a large outcropping of rocks, not out free swimming. No one could tell me what it was called, and I haven't been able to find a pic of it. Any guesses? Any resources that might help?

[Gary Majchrzak]

see it here?:
http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/BiodiversityForgotten/Wildlife/Fish/Acanthuridae.htm

FWIW A. blochii is a totally different species than A. mata

I was also unaware that A. triostegus is endemic to Hawai'i !

(who double checks these websites?)

[JRaquatics]

Here is a thread that has a little info. I did alot a research on these fish, becasue blochii and mata are commonly sold in the trade as dussumieri, especially in their juvi state.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1204223

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'll stop beating around the brushcoral: I have a juvi duss in QT destined for an 8ft. long 300 gallon FO aquarium.
Will this tank be large enough for an adult dussumieri?

FWIW: juvi mata and blochii seem to have entered the retail end locally.

[h20guy]

Great fish, none aggressive wonderful color I have had mine 3 yrs and doing great this is a pic before I moved him from 180 in ot then into 225
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b183/reefornot2reef/reefpics039.jpg

[h20guy]

white spots is on the glass lol

[twon8]

i picked up this little guy a few weeks ago
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y78/twon8/mata.jpg

any ideas? I was thinking mata but he seems to change color a lot and darkens up

[Gary Majchrzak]

twon8- my call is juvi mata on that one. We have two at a LFS here that look just like your fish.

[zemuron114]

IMHO, a 300 is to small for an adult dussi tang. they are huge, and the girth is crazy! the problem with large tangs is they are clumsy swimmers in tight spaces and will frag every colony you have for you :)

i believe 8 feet is to small - 8 feet long and 8 feet wide, now we are talking :)

[Gary Majchrzak]

I was afraid you were gonna say that, zem :(