Tang id

[alepop1211]

Pic isn't quite good enough for a positive id but it is either Acanthurus mata or Acanthurus thompsoni. 100% positive it is not A. coeruleus. The giveaway is the mouth structure, both those species have a forward facing mouth compared to other Acanthurus tangs due to the plankton eating lifestyle. Would lean towards mata overall though

It was a mata it had mpre yellow by the eyes than the picture shows and if anything it is more streamlined than the picture shows so thank you

 

[scchase]

It was a mata it had mpre yellow by the eyes than the picture shows and if anything it is more streamlined than the picture shows so thank you

That would be the confirmation I need, 100% it is A. mata, now for everyone that thinks it is A. coeruleus please be careful when making ids the reasons it cannot be that species are as follows: the lips are of equal size and placed at the front of the head, in coeruleas the lips are underslung with the lower lip being substantially smaller then the upper lip; the tail is highly lunate, in mata this is true, coeruleas does get a somewhat lunate tail is it grows but never to this extent and further in mata the area in the tail between the two extensions I much more straight than in coeruleas which remains rounded throughout the caudal fin when it becomes lunate; the yellow patch occurs in front of the scalpel, in coeruleas the scalpel itself is yellow; the anal fin on coeruleus is much shorter than on this fish; finally even at large sizes coeruleas is still much more rounded than mata, mata is elongated as this fish is. Really the only similarity is in the stripes and possibly the color.

 

[drstardust]

That would be the confirmation I need, 100% it is A. mata, now for everyone that thinks it is A. coeruleus please be careful when making ids the reasons it cannot be that species are as follows: the lips are of equal size and placed at the front of the head, in coeruleas the lips are underslung with the lower lip being substantially smaller then the upper lip; the tail is highly lunate, in mata this is true, coeruleas does get a somewhat lunate tail is it grows but never to this extent and further in mata the area in the tail between the two extensions I much more straight than in coeruleas which remains rounded throughout the caudal fin when it becomes lunate; the yellow patch occurs in front of the scalpel, in coeruleas the scalpel itself is yellow; the anal fin on coeruleus is much shorter than on this fish; finally even at large sizes coeruleas is still much more rounded than mata, mata is elongated as this fish is. Really the only similarity is in the stripes and possibly the color.

Absolutely. A great explanation, thank you.