Common Name
Monrovia Doctorfish
Year Described
Steindachner, 1876
Identification
Dorsal Fin: IX, 24-27
Anal Fin: III, 23-26
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Gill Rakers: 10-12
Lateral Line Scales: 125
Body deep, oval-shaped, and compressed. Head profile steep with eye high on head. Mouth terminal and very small. A single blade-like spine on both sides of caudal peduncle. Scales ctenoid and small, covering body, parts of head, and fin bases. Caudal fin lunate, with pointed lobes.
Color
Yellowish brown to olive base color with numerous horizontal blue lines on head and body (not obvious at a distance), appearing blue to purplish from afar. Blue lines become reticulated on the back. A bright yellow blotch around the spine on the caudal peduncle. Opercular flap yellowish. A brown stripe bordered by blue runs along the base of the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin is black basally with blue rays, and oblique yellow and blue alternating stripes on the distal margin. Anal fin blue darkening to black on the distal margin. Caudal fin light blue, darkening posteriorly with a pale margin. Pectoral fin dark with a yellow patch on the distal margin.
Size
Common to 30cm. Maximum size to 42cm.
Habitat
Inshore waters and rocky reefs. Feeds on encrusting organisms singly or in small groups.
Range
Vagrant: a few records of single specimens from the SE coast of Brazil (i.e. Laje de Santos Marine State Park) and St. Paul's Rocks.
References
Ferreira, Carlos E.L., Osmar J. Luiz Jr., Bertran M. Feitoza, Carlos G.W. Ferreira, Ramon C. Noguchi, João L. Gasparini, Jean-C. Joyeux, Eduardo A. Godoy, Carlos A. Rangel, Luiz A. Rocha, Sergio R. Floeter, and Alfredo Carvalho-Filho. 2009. Peixes recifais: sintese do atual conhecimento. In: Arquipélago de São Pedro e São. Paulo: 10 anos de Estação Científica.
Luiz, O.J., Jr. , S.R. Floeter, J.L. Gasparini, C.E.L. Ferreira and P. Wirtz. 2004. The occurrence of Acanthurus monroviae (Perciformes: Acanthuridae) in the south-western Atlantic, with comments on other eastern Atlantic reef fishes occurring in Brazil. Journal of Fish Biology v. 65 (no. 4): 1173-1179.
Moura, R. L. 2000. Non-indigenous reef fishes in the southwestern Atlantic. Abstracts of the Ninth International Coral Reef Symposium 1, 288.
Whitehead, P.J.P. , M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J.G. Nielsen and E. Tortonese. 1986. Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Vol. I-III. UNESCO. Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.