Acanthurus triostegus
(Linnaeus, 1758) · speciesAt a glance
Sources10 archives
Databases and archives Acanthurus triostegus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation13 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility18 019 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System14 229 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI277 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics169 specimens↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Acanthurus triostegus, also known as the convict tang, convict surgeonfish, or manini, is a small surgeonfish in family Acanthuridae of the order Perciformes. It is typically about 17 cm long, but some individuals may reach 27 cm. These tangs are widespread. They are found in the Indo-Pacific except for seas around the Arabian Peninsula, in the Pacific at the Hawaiian Islands, and in the Eastern Pacific they are found in the lower Gulf of California and down to Panama, including the Revillagigedo Islands, Clipperton Island, Cocos Island, and Galápagos Islands with some reports throughout the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea most likely entering through the Suez Canal.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology1
Habitat & environment2
Uses & economy1
Other traits3
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Acanthurus triostegus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Acanthurus triostegus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type32 248 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions23 of 64 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| CASlocation not on record | 237 |
| Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitationlocation not on record | 222 |
| Washington, US | 194 |
| Sydney, AU | 176 |
| South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record | 124 |
| CSIRO Oceans and Atmospherelocation not on record | 108 |
| Kagoshima University Museumlocation not on record | 106 |
| UWFClocation not on record | 66 |
| Chicago, US | 62 |
| Los Angeles, US | 60 |
| University of California San Diegolocation not on record | 38 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 32 |
| Western Australian Museumlocation not on record | 29 |
| Toronto, CA | 29 |
| Cambridge, US | 28 |
| Vancouver, CA | 26 |
| 24 | |
| Natick, US | 22 |
| SEAOBISlocation not on record | 22 |
| FishBaselocation not on record | 20 |
| New Haven, US | 19 |
| Smithsonian Tropical Research Institutelocation not on record | 18 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 16 |
| Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacionallocation not on record | 12 |
| Fisheries Research Laboratory, Mie Universitylocation not on record | 12 |
| Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record | 10 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 9 |
| Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record | 8 |
| No Voucherlocation not on record | 5 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 5 |
| Australian National Fish Collectionlocation not on record | 4 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 4 |
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Scienceslocation not on record | 4 |
| Universidad del Valle (UniValle)location not on record | 4 |
| DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 4 |
| Honolulu, US | 4 |
| South Kensington, GB | 4 |
| Morelia, MX | 3 |
| Auckland, NZ | 3 |
| Chiba, JP | 2 |
| Paris, FR | 2 |
| Instituto Oceanográfico del Pacífico, Secretaría de Marinalocation not on record | 2 |
| University of Johannesburglocation not on record | 2 |
| Yokosuka City Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad del Marlocation not on record | 1 |
| RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record | 1 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Copenhagen, DK | 1 |
| Universidad de los Andes (UniAndes)location not on record | 1 |
| Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja Californialocation not on record | 1 |
| PUC-RSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Muséum National d'Histoire Naturellelocation not on record | 1 |
| Gump Stationlocation not on record | 1 |
| Brussels, BE | 1 |
| Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 1 |
| University of California Los Angeleslocation not on record | 1 |
| San Francisco, US | 1 |
| Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisherieslocation not on record | 1 |
| Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marineslocation not on record | 1 |
| Mexico City, MX | 1 |
| Smithsonianlocation not on record | 1 |
| Museums Victorialocation not on record | 1 |
| Moore Laboratory of Zoology, Occidental Collegelocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Acanthurus triostegus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.