Description

The Kole Tang or Spotted Surgeonfish or Goldring Surgeonfish or Yellow-Eyed Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus Strigosus), is a marine reef tang in the fish family Acanthuridae which is endemic to Oceana. It grows to 5.7″ inches in the wild. It has a brown color with light blue to yellow horizontal stripes over its body which change into spots towards the face. It also has a vividly yellow area surrounding the eye.

Kole Tangfish or Goldring Surgeonfish are herbivores, grazing algae on the shallow reef. It has also been commonly observed to clean algal growths from the shells of sea turtles. In the Ahihi-Kinau nature preserve area on Maui, Hawaii, aggregations of this fish have established “cleaning stations” where green sea turtles come to be groomed, forming a symbiotic relationship. The fish benefit by having access to an easy meal, while the turtles get groomed of the algae growths on their shells, which can increase drag in the water when growth becomes too dense.