This species is a common and abundant fish occurring across a wide Indo-Pacific range.

[6] The overall colour varies from brown to purplish to bluish-brown marked with small orange spots on the head and breast.

This is a relatively small surgeonfish and may be dominated by other larger species but the large schools they form can displace other grazing fish.

[2] Acanthurus nigrofuscus has been found to be the host of an unusually large symbiotic bacteria discovered in its intestine, Epulopiscium fishelsoni, this species has been found to grow as large as 600 by 80 μm, a little smaller than a printed hyphen, which controls the pH of its host's gut, thereby influencing its host's ability to digest food and absorb nutrients.

[9][10] Acanthurus nigrofuscus is taken as bycatch in some fisheries,[1] and the flesh is consumed either raw or cooked.