Sailfin tang
Amazing fact
The sailfin tang can fold the spine at the base of its tail into a narrow groove.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The sailfin tang can fold the spine at the base of its tail into a narrow groove.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Sailfin tang
- Scientific name
- Zebrasoma veliferum
- Japanese name
- ヒレナガハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Zebrasoma
A surgeonfish relative that lives from the islands and coasts of Japan to Taiwan, the western and central Pacific, and western Australia.
How the Sailfin tang lives
It is active during the day. It eats algae growing on the seabed. When zooplankton is abundant, it eats that too. Young fish live alone among rocks or corals in shallow waters.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Range
- Hachijo Island, Ogasawara Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, western and central Pacific, western Australian coast, and elsewhere
Where the Sailfin tang has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヒレナガハギ
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ヒレナガハギChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Zebrasoma veliferumChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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