Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Acanthurus leucocheilus
Pez Cirujano Labios Pálidos, Palelipped Surgeonfish
It is a large surgeonfish that can reach up to 45 cm in standard length. It is mainly found in protected reef flat areas and on the shallow slopes of reefs, inhabiting depths up to 40 meters.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopteri
Order
Acanthuriformes
Family
Acanthuridae
Genus
Acanthurus
Species
leucocheilus
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Acanthurus leucochilus Herre, 1927; Acanthurus leuocheilus Herre, 1927; Acanthurus leuococheilus Herre, 1927; Acanthurus melanosternon Smith, 1955 (Ahyong, S et al., 2025).
Origin: Native
Distribution: Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from eastern South Africa and Socotra in the Indian Ocean to the Line Islands in the Central Pacific, extending north to the Philippines and south to northern Australia. In the Galápagos Islands, it has been recorded at Wolf Island.
- 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, Acanthurus leucocheilus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=25582. Accessed 3 November 2026.