Three Nomenclatorial Changes in Indo-Pacific Surgeonfishes (Acanthurinae)

Abstract

Acanthurus nigricans (Linnaeus) is the senior synonym of A. glaucopareius Cuvier. The wide-ranging, Indo-Pacific surgeonfish with a dark stripe on the shoulder region that many authors have identified as A. nigricans is correctly named A. nigricauda Duncker and Mohr. The large surgeonfish endemic to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with a similar black shoulder ban d is A. gahhm Forsskal. The surgeonfish long misidentified as Acanthurus bleekeri Gunther should be called A. mata (Cuvier). The next available name for the species that has been identified as mata (Cuvier) by most recent authors is A. blochii Valenciennes. Ctenochaetu s marginatus (Valenciennes), a new name for A. guttatus Kittlitz from the Caroline Islands, replaces Ctenochaetus cyanoguttatus Randall.