---
title: "Brown Tang"
description: "Zebrasoma scopas — Fish. Zebrasoma scopas, the brown tang, twotone tang, scopas tang or brush-tail tang, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/brown-tang
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Brown Tang

> Zebrasoma scopas — Fish. Zebrasoma scopas, the brown tang, twotone tang, scopas tang or brush-tail tang, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs.

- Scientific name: *Zebrasoma scopas*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast), `zoo` (Zoo & pets)
- iNaturalist observations: 2684
- Wikidata: [Q582377](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q582377)
- iNaturalist taxon: [49641](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49641)

## Names

- en: Brown Tang
- de: Brauner Segelflossen-Doktor
- es: Pez Cirujano Café
- fr: Chirurgien-voile brun

## Countries with the most observations

ID (525), PF (217), AU (183), FJ (171), PH (164), NC (127), MV (101), JP (52), MU (47), RE (47), TZ (37), KE (34)

## Summary

Zebrasoma scopas, the brown tang, twotone tang, scopas tang or brush-tail tang, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. The brown tang is found throughout Oceania and is a herbivorous fish, feeding predominantly on filamentous algae. It is a highly popular fish in the aquarium trade.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebrasoma_scopas

## Photo

![Brown Tang](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/brown-tang/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141137548

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/brown-tang?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).