Ecology Summary - Acanthurus coeruleus

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Main Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967
Remarks	Inhabits coral reefs, inshore grassy or rocky areas. Mainly diurnal. Feeds entirely on algae (Refs. 5521, 127989). Herbivore (Refs. 33499, 57616). Strong preference for red and green algae, with the rhodophytes comprising 93% of the food items examined (Ref. 55789). Roving herbivore (Ref. 57616). Diurnal species (Ref. 3194). It forms resident spawning aggregations in late afternoon after high tide (Refs. 27825, 120681, 120682). This species exhibits o exhibits facultative zooplanktophagous habits, especially during seasonal scarcity of macroalgae (Ref. 122732). Found individually or in small groups. Dwells near coral reefs, in calm areas and lagoons of shallow water (Ref. 127989).

Main Ref.

Randall, J.E., 1967

Remarks

Inhabits coral reefs, inshore grassy or rocky areas. Mainly diurnal. Feeds entirely on algae (Refs. 5521, 127989). Herbivore (Refs. 33499, 57616). Strong preference for red and green algae, with the rhodophytes comprising 93% of the food items examined (Ref. 55789). Roving herbivore (Ref. 57616). Diurnal species (Ref. 3194). It forms resident spawning aggregations in late afternoon after high tide (Refs. 27825, 120681, 120682). This species exhibits o exhibits facultative zooplanktophagous habits, especially during seasonal scarcity of macroalgae (Ref. 122732). Found individually or in small groups. Dwells near coral reefs, in calm areas and lagoons of shallow water (Ref. 127989).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Acanthurus coeruleus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	: rocky;
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats	Coral Reefs;
Special habitats Ref.	Golani, D., E. Azurro, J. Dulčić, E. Massutí and L. Orsi-Relini, 2021

Associations

Ref.	Coupal, L., E. Bédard, C. Peguero and I.S. Durante, 1992
Associations	symbiosis; schooling;
Associated with	Cleaned by Pederson's cleaner shrimp (Periclimenes pedersoni), scarlet striped cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami), goby Gobiosoma evelynae, hogfish (Bodianus rufus), and wrasse (Thalassoma trifasciatum) as observed on the
Association remarks	Forms small groups (Ref. 26235).
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	plants/detritus+animals (troph. 2.2-2.79)
Feeding type Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967
Feeding habit	browsing on substrate
Feeding habit Ref.	Clavijo, I.E., 1974

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition			2.01	0.03
From individual food items	2.15	0.00			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967

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