Elegant unicornfish
Naso elegans
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Elegant unicornfish
- Scientific
- Naso elegans
- Dhivehi
- ރަންގެރިRan geri
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 45 cm (standard length); commonly 35 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 45 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 5 to 30 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2010
Description
A striking unicornfish without a horn, grey-brown with a curved yellow band across the snout, two bright orange plates on the tail base and a large orange-yellow dorsal fin; adult males trail long filaments from the tail corners. It lives on shallow reefs and grazes leafy brown algae. It is the Indian Ocean counterpart of the Pacific orangespine unicornfish.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name ran geri (MRS 1997, recorded as Naso lituratus). MRS rates it one of the most beautiful Maldivian reef fishes.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Naso-elegans.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ރަންގެރި
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_unicornio_elegante_(Naso_elegans),_mar_Rojo,_Egipto,_20
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Ran geri' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ރަންގެރި' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form.