Powder Blue Tang

Size

• Common length of 7.5 inches (19 cm). Maximum length of 21 inches (54 cm).

Body Composition

• Body is deep and laterally compressed.

Color

• Coloration is light blue to purple with yellow dorsal fin and white anal and pelvic fins. Face is dark blue to black from below the mouth to the base of the pectoral fins and over the eyes. White band from the throat to the pectoral fin.

• Diet consists of algae and other small growths.

Range

• Occurs in the Indo-West Pacific from Eastern Africa to the Andaman Sea and Southwest Indonesia.

Habitat

• Found in reef environments, including reef flats and upper seaward slopes at depths to 82 feet (25 m).

• Oviparous, or egg-laying species.
• Monogamous, paired spawning.

• “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.

• Also known as the “powder blue surgeonfish,” due to the sharp spine along either side of the caudal peduncle, which serves as a defense mechanism.
• May be seen singly or in large feeding aggregations.

• www.fishbase.org
• www.iucnredlist.org