Unicornfishes (Naso)
General data
- Main name: Unicornfishes
Classification
- Family: Acanthuridae - Surgeonfishes
- Order: Acanthuriformes - Surgeonfishes
- Class: Teleostei - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
Description
Naso is a genus of fish in the surgeonfish family, Acanthuridae. Fish of this genus are known commonly as unicornfishes because of the rostral protuberance, a hornlike extension of the forehead present in some species. Unicorn fish are very popular with spearfishermen in Hawaii and often cook them by grilling them whole. Unicornfish primarily live around coral reefs and eat mostly algae. This genus is distributed across the Indo-Pacific from Africa to Hawaii. The 20 currently recognized species in this genus: Naso annulatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) – whitemargin unicornfish Naso brachycentron (Valenciennes, 1835) – humpback unicornfish Naso brevirostris (G. Cuvier, 1829) – short-nosed unicornfish, spotted unicornfish Naso caeruleacauda J. E. Randall, 1994 – bluetail unicornfish, blue unicorn Naso caesius J. E. Randall & Bell, 1992 – gray unicornfish Naso elegans (Rüppell, 1829) – elegant unicornfish, orange-spine unicorn Naso fageni Morrow, 1954 – horseface unicornfish Naso hexacanthus (Bleeker, 1855) – sleek unicornfish, blacktongue unicorn Naso lituratus (J. R. Forster, 1801) – orangespine unicornfish Naso lopezi Herre, 1927 – elongated unicornfish Naso maculatus J. E. Randall & Struhsaker, 1981 – spotted unicornfish Naso mcdadei J. W. Johnson, 2002 – squarenose unicornfish Naso minor (J. L. B. Smith, 1966) – slender unicorn Naso reticulatus J. E. Randall, 2001 – reticulated unicornfish Naso tergus H. C. Ho, K. N. Shen & C. W. Chang, 2011 Naso thynnoides (G. Cuvier, 1829) – oneknife unicornfish Naso tonganus (Valenciennes, 1835) – bulbnose unicornfish Naso tuberosus Lacépède, 1801 – humpnose unicornfish Naso unicornis (Forsskål, 1775) – bluespine unicornfish Naso vlamingii (Valenciennes, 1835) – bignose unicornfish