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surgeonfish

[sur-juh n-fish]
noun, plural (especially collectively) sur·geon·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) sur·geon·fish·es.
  1. any tropical, coral-reef fish of the family Acanthuridae, with one or more sharp spines near the base of the tail fin.
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Origin of surgeonfish

1870–75, Americanism; surgeon + fish; so called from the resemblance of its spines to a surgeon's instruments
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for surgeonfish

surgeonfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes
  1. any tropical marine spiny-finned fish of the family Acanthuridae, having a compressed brightly coloured body with one or more knifelike spines at the base of the tail
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012