Not furry, but we like them anyway.
Kole Tang
Ctenochaetus strigosus (Bennett, 1828)
Also called Yellow-eye tang, Yellow-eyed surgeonfish, Spotted surgeonfish, Spotted bristletooth, Goldring bristletooth
From Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll in the central Pacific.12
At a glance the quick version
Maximum standard length.
Looks how to spot one
Scaled, oval surgeonfish
A compact, flattened tang in shades of purplish brown, traced with thin blue lengthwise lines and peppered with tiny blue dots on the head. Its signature feature is a bright golden ring around each eye. The small mouth holds flexible, bristle-like teeth.21
Personality what they are like
An easy-going, steady forager that usually goes about its business on its own, spending the day working over rock and rubble.12
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Active in daylight, constantly brushing its comb-like teeth over surfaces to collect food. It needs plenty of rock and open bottom areas to forage over.1
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Marine reef fish for a mature saltwater aquarium. Typical reef-tank conditions are 24-27 C, salinity 1.022-1.025 specific gravity and pH around 8.2, which sits within the 21-27 C water it lives in on the reef. Keep water quality stable and offer algae-based meals every day. The blade-like tail spines are sharp, so move it with a net or container rather than bare hands.31
Home where they are happiest
Lives over coral, rock and rubble from about 1 m down to over 100 m. A reef aquarium with lots of mature live rock to graze, plus open swimming space, suits it. No minimum tank volume from a primary source was found.12
Food basics what goes in the bowl
Feeds on detritus, diatoms and fine algae that it sifts from surfaces with its bristle teeth. In the aquarium, offer algae-based foods and keep mature rock surfaces available for grazing.12
Company who they like around
Usually found singly on the reef; pairs come together to spawn.12
The story where it all began
English zoologist Edward Turner Bennett described it in 1828 from the Sandwich Islands, the old name for Hawaii. Theodore Gill placed it in the bristletooth genus Ctenochaetus in 1884. It became one of the most popular Hawaiian fish in the aquarium hobby.2
Fun facts for the dinner table
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Least Concern (assessed 7 May 2010)1
- Taxonomy
- Family Acanthuridae; described by Edward Turner Bennett in 1828 as Acanthurus strigosus, moved to Ctenochaetus by Theodore Gill in 18842
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Kole Tang. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- FeedingSmall amounts once or twice a dayevery day
- Temperature checkevery day
- Salinity checkevery week
- Top-upTop up evaporation with fresh RO water, not salt waterevery day
- Water testevery week
- Water changeAbout 10 to 20% of the waterevery 2 weeks
- Glass cleanevery week
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- FishBase: Ctenochaetus strigosus summary fishbase.seused for distribution, depth, length, feeding, temperature, IUCN status
- Wikipedia: Ctenochaetus strigosus en.wikipedia.orgused for names, description, diet, taxonomy, etymology, aquarium popularity
- Wikipedia: Reef aquarium en.wikipedia.orgused for general reef aquarium water parameters
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.