Ctenochaetus, or bristletooth tangs, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the familyAcanthuridae, which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region. They have many, small flexible teeth and some species have the common name bristletooth.
Ctenochaetus Is a compound of cteno, meaning “bristle”, and chaetus, meaning “comb”. Gill did not explain what this alluded to but it is almost certain to allude to the bristle or comb like teeth if these fishes.[5]
Ctenochaetus surgeonfishes are closely related to the surgeonfishes in the genus Acanthurus and are very similar to them. They have a different jaw structure from the Acanthurus surgeonfishes having numerous brush or bristle like flexible teeth. Their dorsal fin is supported by 8 spines and between 24 and 31 soft rays while their anal fins are supported by 3 spines and between 22 and 28 soft rays.[7][5] These fish vary in length from a maximum published standard length of 15 cm (5.9 in) in C. strigosus to a maximum published total length of 27 cm (11 in) in C. marginatus.[6]
Ctenochaetus surgeonfishes have a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. They are found from the eastern coast of Africa, includiong the Red Sea eastwards through the tropical Indian Ocean into the Pacific Ocean as far east as Hawaii.[7][6]
^Bennett, E. T. (1828). "Observations on the fishes contained in the collection of the Zoological Society. On some fishes from the Sandwich Islands". Zoological Journal, London. 4 (13): 31–42.
^Laurie Sorenson; Francesco Santini; Giorgio Carnevale; Michael E. Alfaro (2013). "A multi-locus timetree of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae, Percomorpha), with revised family taxonomy". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 68 (1): 150–160. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.03.014. ISSN1055-7903.
^J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502. ISBN978-1-118-34233-6.
