Mimic Tang

Acanthurus pyroferus

Also known as Chocolate Tang, Chocolate Surgeonfish, Mimic Surgeonfish, Yellow Mimic Tang

SaltwaterFish

Mimic Tang (Acanthurus pyroferus) — Rickard Zerpe · CC BY 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 11.4 in (29 cm)
Minimum tank: 129 gal (490 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indo-Pacific reefs, from East Africa to French Polynesia
Family: Acanthuridae

Overview

Peaceful with unrelated fish but increasingly territorial toward other tangs and surgeonfish as it ages, so it is best kept singly as an adult. Reef safe with corals and invertebrates. Offer nori or dried seaweed regularly along with algae-based flake or pellet food and the occasional meaty frozen food. It settles in well once established, though like other tangs it can come down with marine ich if stressed during shipping or acclimation, so ease it into the tank slowly.

In the wild

Ranges across Indo-Pacific reefs from East Africa to French Polynesia, usually living as a solitary fish on coral and rocky reef faces from just below the surface down to 60 m. It needs open water for cruising plus large amounts of live rock to claim as a territory, since it grows more territorial with age. Plan for a tank of at least 490 litres (130 US gal) with room to grow into its adult size.

Good to know

Carries the folding scalpel spine typical of the genus Acanthurus at the base of the tail, used in defense or in disputes with other tangs. Juveniles take mimicry further than most reef fish: depending on where they hatch, they copy the color and shape of a local dwarf angelfish almost exactly, switching model species from one part of the Pacific to another, before losing the disguise and turning chocolate brown to blackish as they mature into adults around 29 cm long.

Did you know

As a juvenile it impersonates a dwarf angelfish so convincingly that it can fool other fish on the reef, mimicking the lemonpeel angelfish in the central and eastern Pacific and the half-black angelfish farther west near Palau, then dropping the disguise entirely once it is large enough to fend for itself.