Tomini surgeonfish
Amazing fact
A Tomini surgeonfish has a forked tail when young and a crescent-shaped tail as an adult.
Swedish Museum of Natural History (FishBase)
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A Tomini surgeonfish has a forked tail when young and a crescent-shaped tail as an adult.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Tomini surgeonfish
- Scientific name
- Ctenochaetus tominiensis
- Japanese name
- トミニサージョンフィッシュ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Ctenochaetus
Where the name “Tomini surgeonfish” comes from
Its scientific genus name combines Greek words meaning “comb” and “hair”.
Swedish Museum of Natural History (FishBase)It lives in the western and central Pacific, from Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea to Fiji and Tonga.
How the Tomini surgeonfish lives
It lives along steep, coral-rich slopes off sheltered coasts. It eats algae and tiny animals living among them. It can be found alone or in small groups.
Swedish Museum of Natural History (FishBase)Basic data
- Range
- Western central Pacific, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and elsewhere
Where the Tomini surgeonfish 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
- 简体中文
- 印尼栉齿刺尾鱼
- 繁體中文
- 印尼櫛齒刺尾魚
- Español
- Pez Cirujano Tomini
- Français
- Chirurgien de Tomini
- Português (Brasil)
- Cirurgião-de-Tomini
- Italiano
- Pesce chirurgo di Tomini
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Botana api
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 — トミニサージョンフィッシュChecked: 2026-11-04
- Swedish Museum of Natural History (FishBase) — Ctenochaetus tominiensis, Tomini surgeonfishChecked: 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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