Orangespine unicornfish
Amazing fact
The orangespine unicornfish has forward-pointing, knife-like plates at the base of its tail.
U.S. Geological Survey
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The orangespine unicornfish has forward-pointing, knife-like plates at the base of its tail.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Orangespine unicornfish
- Scientific name
- Naso lituratus
- Japanese name
- ミヤコテングハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Naso
It lives from the Izu, Ogasawara and Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan and across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
How the Orangespine unicornfish lives
It lives in shallow water near coral reefs or over rocky bottoms. It eats algae growing on the bottom, such as sargassum.
U.S. Geological SurveyBasic data
- Range
- Indian and Pacific oceans east of Mauritius, excluding Easter Island, and elsewhere
Where the Orangespine unicornfish 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
- ミヤコテングハギ
- 简体中文
- 颊吻鼻鱼
- 繁體中文
- 黑背鼻魚
- 한국어
- 제주표문쥐치
- Français
- Nason à Eperons Oranges
- Deutsch
- Gelbklingen-Nasendoktorfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-unicórnio-de-espinho-laranja
- Italiano
- Pesce unicorno arancione
- العربية
- الناسو
- Русский
- Оранжевошипый носач
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 — ミヤコテングハギChecked: 2026-11-04
- U.S. Geological Survey — orangespine unicornfish (Naso lituratus) - Species ProfileChecked: 2026-11-07
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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