I was lucky enough to be tipped-off about the arrival of a unique fish at Finest Aquatics this week and as a result, made a beeline for the shop to capture images of their new star. With somewhat “gaudy” cross-breed tangs grabbing headlines at the moment it was refreshing to see this completely natural, but incredibly unusual Naso elegans in the flesh. If you didn’t already know, the term axanthism basically means that this fish is unable to produce yellow pigmentation. As such, it exhibits a stunning monochromatic appearance which is further accentuated by a metallic sheen. Although exhibiting some stress patterning, compare the fish to a “normal” juvenile N. elegans in the same acclimation container in the images below. We don’t know much else about this fish other than it was sourced through TMC and seems to be a complete one-of-a-kind. Just a juvenile at the moment it should be fascinating to see this fish mature as it is moved into one of Finest’s massive fish-only retail tanks which currently feature numerous fully-grown angels, tangs, rabbitfishes and puffers where it will be held back from sale for the forseeable future.

You can view more tang species in the Surgeonfish gallery. To visit Finest Aquatics Facebook page, click here.