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| Fun facts about Yellow tang fish |
- These fish can also be found in the waters east of Japan and they are occasionally spotted in Florida due to illegal release by fishkeepers. Yellow tangs have a long snout and flexible comb-like teeth that they use to graze on algae.
- They prefer calm waters on shallow reefs, but they can also be found at depths over100ft (30 m). During the day, the yellow tang spends a great deal of its time feeding, often traveling in small groups.
- Their grazing is important in preventing fast-growing seaweeds from choking out the slow-growing corals. They will even clean sea turtles by eating the algae off of their backs. At night, groups of yellow tang split up.
Their color turns to a darker grayish yellow
- Their color turns to a darker grayish yellow with a horizontal white band and individual fish hide in crevices. For defense, they possess a spine on each side of their tail that can inflict deep wounds. A yellow tang will reach reproductive maturity at 4 to 7 years of age.
- Spawning takes place multiple times throughout the year during the full moon. Females can release over 1 million eggs per year.
- Hatched larvae drift with the current for about two months, feeding on zooplankton. They sometimes drift dozens of miles before settling on a reef habitat. Adults can grow up to 8 inches long.
- They typically live 20 to 30 years.
The yellow tang is very popular in the aquarium trade. Around 400,000 individuals have collected annually from the wild in Hawaii. In 1999, Hawaii established marine protected areas where the collection of yellow tangis prohibited. This has caused a successful increase in their populations. However, they are still threatened by the destruction of their coral reef habitat.