Acanthurus monroviae

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 24-26; Anal spines: 6; Anal soft rays: 24 – 26. Caudal peduncle spine surrounded by a bright orange-yellow spot.

Description
Acanthurus Monroviae is one of the jewels to come out of the Western Coast of Africa. Collected most commonly from Southern Morocco down to Nigeria, including Cape Verde, this remarkable Surgeonfish is prized for its beauty and ability to adapt to captivity. The bright yellow spot at the base of its tail give the common name Atlantic Achilles Tang. It reaches a maximum size of just under 18 inches in the wild but this is a long lived fish and takes many years to get that size. They will do well in 150 gallon tanks or larger. They are not known for playing nice with other Acanthurus species so it should only be mixed in the largest of tanks. It will do well with any other Tang or Surgeonfish genus however.

Diet
The Monrovia Surgeon is an open water fish that feeds mostly on zooplankton. It is technically omnivoric but it will not eat as much algae matter in aquariums as other Tang species. We feed these our Blue Zoo Mix and they happily pick the Cyclopeeze out of the along with the smaller size pellets.