---
title: "Yellowfin Surgeonfish"
description: "Acanthurus xanthopterus — Vissen. Acanthurus xanthopterus, the yellowfin surgeonfish yellowmask surgeonfish, ringtail surgeonfish or Cuvier's surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/yellowfin-surgeonfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Yellowfin Surgeonfish

> Acanthurus xanthopterus — Vissen. Acanthurus xanthopterus, the yellowfin surgeonfish yellowmask surgeonfish, ringtail surgeonfish or Cuvier's surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs.

- Scientific name: *Acanthurus xanthopterus*
- Category: `fish` (Vissen)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 3536
- Wikidata: [Q2182371](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2182371)
- iNaturalist taxon: [132366](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/132366)

## Names

- en: Yellowfin Surgeonfish
- de: Gelbflossen-Doktorfisch
- es: Cirujano aleta amarilla
- fr: Chirurgien à ailes jaunes

## Countries with the most observations

US (540), MX (437), AU (297), CR (264), PA (199), ID (186), NC (138), MV (123), EC (89), PF (68), FJ (51), TH (46)

## Summary

Acanthurus xanthopterus, the yellowfin surgeonfish yellowmask surgeonfish, ringtail surgeonfish or Cuvier's surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

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

## Photo

![Yellowfin Surgeonfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/yellowfin-surgeonfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/235686134

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/yellowfin-surgeonfish?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).