Sohal tang

Care at a glance

The sohal tang is endemic to the Red Sea and one of the most striking tangs around: a stocky, muscular body with sharply defined white and black longitudinal stripes, and, like all tangs, a sharp, blade-like spine at the tail base it uses against rivals.

It's also known as one of the most aggressive tangs there is: never keep more than one per tank, and don't combine it with other tangs such as yellow, purple, sailfin or kole tangs, since that almost always ends in fighting. Give it a large, mature reef with plenty of open swimming space and abundant algae growth to graze on.

Good to know

• Territorial
• Outgrows most home tanks
• Needs a mature, stable tank

Best not combined with

• Yellow tangZebrasoma flavescens
• Kole tangCtenochaetus strigosus
• Purple tangZebrasoma xanthurum
• Sailfin tangZebrasoma veliferum

Related species

• Foxface rabbitfishSiganus vulpinus
• Powder brown tangAcanthurus japonicus
• Flame hawkfishNeocirrhites armatus
• Powder blue tangAcanthurus leucosternon
• Falco hawkfishCirrhitichthys falco
• Sailfin tangZebrasoma veliferum