Spotted unicornfish
Naso brevirostris
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Spotted unicornfish
- Scientific
- Naso brevirostris
- Dhivehi
- ތުނބިThunbi
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 60 cm (total length) (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 55 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 122 m (usually 4 to 46 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2010
Description
A grey-brown unicornfish whose adults grow a long, tapering horn projecting forward from the forehead, well beyond the mouth. The body is covered in small dark spots and short lines, and the tail is pale with a dark rear edge. Young fish graze algae, while adults feed on zooplankton in mid-water along steep drop-offs, often in schools.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name thunbi (MRS 1997). MRS calls it a common and distinctive member of the Maldivian reef fauna.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Naso-brevirostris.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=6021&GenusName=Naso&SpeciesName=brevi
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ތުނބި
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_unicornio_de_nariz_corta_(Naso_brevirostris),_Ambalihab
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Thunbi' (Latin form). FishBase (country: Maldives) agrees: 'Thumbi'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ތުނބި' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form.