Bluespine unicornfish
Amazing fact
As the bluespine unicornfish grows, its tail fin develops long, trailing filaments.
Georgia Aquarium
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
As the bluespine unicornfish grows, its tail fin develops long, trailing filaments.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Bluespine unicornfish
- Scientific name
- Naso unicornis
- Japanese name
- テングハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Naso
It lives along Japan's Pacific coast and in the Sea of Japan, and from the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Young fish have no horn on the forehead, but adults grow a horn-like projection reaching to about the tip of the snout.
How the Bluespine unicornfish lives
Young fish live on clear coastal reefs where algae grow. It eats brown algae, including leafy forms. It usually swims in a small group. In some areas, it has been seen spawning around full and new moons.
Georgia AquariumBasic data
- Range
- Indo-Pacific and elsewhere
Where the Bluespine 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
- テングハギ
- 简体中文
- 单角鼻鱼
- 繁體中文
- 單角鼻魚
- 한국어
- 표문쥐치
- Español
- Pez unicornio de nariz corta
- Français
- Licorne
- Deutsch
- Kurznasen-Doktorfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-unicórnio-de-nariz-curto
- Italiano
- Pesce unicorno spine blu
- العربية
- أبو قرن
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Botana kera
- Русский
- Однорогая рыба-носорог
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 — テングハギChecked: 2026-11-04
- Georgia Aquarium — Bluespine UnicornfishChecked: 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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