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An evaluation of a double‐tailed deformity in a coral‐reef surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus (Acanthuridae) using micro‐computed tomography
Author(s) -
Goatley C. H. R.,
Wroe S.,
Tebbett S. B.,
Bellwood D. R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/jfb.13600
Subject(s) - biology , deformity , reef , anatomy , computed tomography , coral reef , coral reef fish , fishery , zoology , radiology , medicine , genetics
X‐ray micro‐computed tomography scans were used to examine the caudal‐fin structure of an unusual double‐tailed deformity in an adult brown surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus from the Great Barrier Reef. In both this case and in a similar double‐tailed deformity in a juvenile Tomini surgeonfish Ctenochaetus tominiensis from the Philippines, the caudal fin was duplicated along the dorsoventral axis. Detailed examination of the A. nigrofuscus specimen revealed that the deformity was associated with duplication and reflection of the hypural plates and the posterior vertebrae, yet the fish survived to adulthood, indicating that the effects of duplication on survival may be limited.