All fish / Acanthuridae

Tominí Tang

Ctenochaetus tominiensis

Also known as tomini tang, tomini bristletooth, tomini surgeonfish, flame fin tang, flame fin bristletooth, orange fin bristletooth, ctenocheatus tominiensis, tominiensis tang, トミニサージョン, 火焰尾吊, 托米尼栉齿刺尾鱼

A small bristletooth surgeonfish with a dusky brown body fading to pale at the front, fine blue lines on the head and bright orange or yellow tips to the dorsal and tail fins. It is one of the smallest tangs, so it suits mid-sized reef tanks, and it is valued for constantly grazing film algae and detritus from rock and glass.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

15 cm

Temperature

24 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

300 litres

Keep as

Keep singly, or one per tank unless the tank is very large

Diet

Herbivore: grazes film algae and detritus; offer nori, spirulina and marine algae based foods plus some mysis

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Central Pacific: Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands and northern Australia

Breeding

Spawns in pairs or groups in open water, releasing pelagic eggs with a long planktonic larval stage. It has not been bred in home aquariums and commercial captive breeding is rare.

Good to know

The name is often misspelt 'Ctenocheatus'; the correct genus is Ctenochaetus. Like other tangs it carries a sharp scalpel at the tail base and may fight with other bristletooth or similar shaped tangs, so add it to a mature tank with plenty of growing algae.