Acanthurus maculiceps

Acanthurus maculiceps, the white-freckled surgeonfish, yellow-freckled surgeonfish, pale-lined surgeonfish,spotted-faced surgeonfish or earbar surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-West Pacific region.

Taxonomy
Acanthurus maculiceps was first formally described in 1923 by the German zoologist Ernst Ahl with its type locality given as Talasea on New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The genus Acanthurus is one of two genera in the tribe Acanthurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamilies in the family Acanthuridae.

Etymology
Acanthurus maculiceps has the specific name maculiceps, this combines the Latin words maculatus, meaning "spotted", and ceps, meaning "head", this refers to the large number of white spots on the head of this fish.

Description
Acanthurus maculiceps has its dorsal fin supported by 9 spines and between 24 and 26 soft rays while the anal fin is supported by 3 spines and 22 to 24 soft rays. It has an oval, laterally compressed body with a convex dorsal profile to the head. In juveniles the caudal fin is truncate but as they grow it becomes lunate with long filaments growing out of the fin lobes The head is marked with pale spots and the body has fine lines along the flanks, there is a yellow patch underneath the mouth on the breast and an elongated dark blotch to the rear of the eye. The spine on the caudal peduncle is within a dark blotch and there is frequently a yellowish band on caudal peduncle with the pectoral fins having yellow tips. The overall colour may vary from light yellow to dark brown and the change in colour can happen very quickly. This species has a maximum published standard length of 40 cm>

Distribution and habitat
Acanthurus maculiceps is found in the Indo-Pacific region. It is found in the Maldives, east into the Pacific as far as the Line Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. These fishes are found in clear waters in the outer reef flats and on seaward reefs at depths between 1 and 15 m.

Biology
Acanthurus maculiceps is found either solitarily or in small groups. They are grazers feeding on algae and detritus. The males develop brighter nuptial colours when spawning. The eggs are pelagic and the juveniles are white, developing adult colours slowly from a length of 20 cm>