Our September Fish of the Month is the Yellowtail Surgeonfish, Prionurus punctatus!
Survey Regions: Yellowtail Surgeonfish are common in the Gulf of California, and occasionally seen throughout the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, as well as the Revillagigedo Islands. Click here to see a distribution for this species in the REEF database.
Size: They are usually about 8-14 inches, and can reach a maximum size of 2 feet.
Identifying Features: Yellowtail Surgeonfish are gray with black spots coverings the head and body, and a bright yellow tail. They have a dark band running through their eye and another around their gill cover. They also have three sharp, dark spines on each side of their tail base.
Fun Facts: Yellowtail Surgeonfish live in rocky reef areas along shorelines and usually form schools. A similar species called the Razor Surgeonfish, which lacks the uniform black spots covering its body, is more common along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica to Panama and south to Ecuador and offshore islands. The Razor Surgeonfish occurs rarely in the southern part of the Gulf of California, and in areas of overlap, the two species may be seen together.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our next Fish of the Month.
Photo by Robert Cox.