Indian bristletooth tang

The Indian bristletooth is a surgeonfish of Indian Ocean reef slopes and lagoons, equipped with fine comb-like teeth used to rasp detritus, film algae, and diatoms from rock and sand. Adults show a dark brown to olive body finely spotted and lined, often with yellow highlights. It needs a mature reef aquarium with abundant live rock for continuous grazing and open water for swimming; a single specimen per tank is safest, as it can be territorial toward other tangs and bristletooths. Provide strong flow, high oxygen, pristine stable water, and salinity of 33-35 ppt. Although it grazes naturally, supplement with dried marine algae (nori), spirulina, and herbivore preparations to prevent lateral-line erosion. Susceptible to marine ich, so quarantine and stable conditions are essential.