Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Ctenochaetus marginatus
Cirujano pintado, Bluespotted Surgeonfish
A surgeonfish reaching up to 30 cm, common in shallow waters (down to 40 m). Dark brown body with pale blue spots, sometimes covering the entire body.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopteri
Order
Acanthuriformes
Family
Acanthuridae
Genus
Ctenochaetus
Species
marginatus
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Acanthurus marginatus Valenciennes, 1835; Ctenochaetus cyanoguttatus Randall, 1955; Ctenochaetus magnus Randall, 1955 (Ahyong, S et al., 2025)
Origin: Native
Distribution: Typically found in the CTP and offshore ETP islands, with occasional records along the Pacific coasts of the Philippines and Central America to northern South America; in the Galápagos, reported from Pinta, Wolf, and Darwin Islands.
- Ahyong, S Et. al. (2025) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. doi:10.14284/170
- Bensted-Smith W Terán F, Banks S, Keith I (2025) New photographic records of eight marine fishes from the Galápagos Islands, including three first records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Check List 21 (2): 485–505. https://doi.org/10.15560/21.2.485
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Ctenochaetus marginatus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=25581. Accessed 5 June 2026.