Yellow tang
Amazing fact
At night, the yellow tang turns a darker, grayer yellow, with a white line along its side.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
At night, the yellow tang turns a darker, grayer yellow, with a white line along its side.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Yellow tang
- Scientific name
- Zebrasoma flavescens
- Japanese name
- キイロハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Zebrasoma
Where the name “Yellow tang” comes from
The English name "yellow tang" comes from its bright yellow body.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebHow the Yellow tang lives
It is active by day, swimming from place to place in the reef. It grazes on algae with small teeth in its long, downward-pointing mouth. Adults live alone or in small, loose groups. At night, it generally rests alone in a crevice in the coral reef.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Diet
- Filamentous algae
- Range
- Pacific Ocean
Where the Yellow 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
- キイロハギ
- 简体中文
- 黄高鳍刺尾鱼
- 繁體中文
- 黃高鰭刺尾鯛
- 한국어
- 옐로 탱
- Español
- Pez cirujano amarillo
- Français
- Chirurgien jaune
- Deutsch
- Gelber Segelflossendoktor
- Português (Brasil)
- Cirurgião-amarelo
- Italiano
- Pesce chirurgo giallo
- हिन्दी
- पीला तांग
- العربية
- سمكة صفراء
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Botana kuning
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá đuôi gai vàng
- Русский
- Желтая зебрасома
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 — キイロハギChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Zebrasoma flavescensChecked: 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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