Doctorfish is a tropical fish found in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is grayish-brown to dark brown and has 10 to 12 vertical markings on its sides. Its fins are blue to gray. The doctorfish belongs to a group of fish called surgeonfish. Like other surgeonfish, it has a sharp, scalpel-shaped spine that folds into a groove on each side of the body near the tail. The spine can be raised out of the groove and used to slash at attacking fish.
The doctorfish is found mostly on coral reefs. The fish use their small, sharp teeth to scrape algae from rocks and hard-packed sand. The algae are ground up in the fish’s muscular stomach. Doctorfish graze in schools, often with other kinds of surgeonfish.
