ocean surgeonfish
Acanthurus tractus Poey, 1860
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Acanthurus tractus, the five-band surgeonfish, ocean surgeon, or ocean surgeonfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Acanthuridae found in the western Atlantic Ocean, Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Until recently, it was considered a synonym of Acanthurus bahianus, but its status as a separate species was resurrected in 2011.
Wikipedia contributors, Acanthurus tractus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:43:07.514698+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Acanthurus tractus Poey, 1860
- Name authority
- Poey, 1860
- Common name
- ocean surgeonfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Acanthuriformes
- Family
- Acanthuridae
- Genus
- Acanthurus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAcanthuriformes
- familyAcanthuridae Bonaparte, 1835
- genusAcanthurus Forsskål, 1775
- speciesAcanthurus tractus Poey, 1860
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Acanthurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| lined surgeonfishAcanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| backsurgeonfishAcanthurus nigricans (Linnaeus, 1758) | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus albipectoralis Allen & Ayling, 1987 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus chronixis Randall, 1960 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| eyestripe surgeonfishAcanthurus dussumieri Valenciennes, 1835 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus grammoptilus Richardson, 1843 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus japonicus (Schmidt, 1931) | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus leucocheilus Herre, 1927 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus leucopareius (Jenkins, 1903) | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| powder-blue surgeonfishAcanthurus leucosternon Bennett, 1833 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blue-lined surgeonfishAcanthurus mata (Cuvier, 1829) | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthurus monroviae Steindachner, 1876 | AcanthuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Acronurus nigriculus Poey, 1875 Poey, 1875 | synonym |
| Teuthis tractus (Poey, 1860) (Poey, 1860) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Poey, F. (1858). Memorias sobra la historia natural de la Isla de Cuba, acompañadas de sumarios Latinos y extractos en Francés. 2: 1–96 (1858), 97–336 (1860), 337–442 (1861), pls. 1–19; La Habana [“1856–1858”]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:92R8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.