It has been proposed that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature should be petitioned to stabilise the genera Acanthurus and Paracanthurus.

[6] In 2014 it was proposed that the type species of Acanthurus should be C. sohal, which had also been described by Forsskål in 1775 as a member of the subgenus alongside C. bifasciatus, C. nigrofuscus and C. unicornis, and had been designated as the type species by Jordan and Evermann in 1917.

The lower head and ventral surface of the body are pale with faint grey and greenish grey longitudinal lines> the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins are black with vivid blue margins, there is a large patch of orange on the body underneath the pectoral fin and the sheath of the spine on the caudal peduncle is orange.

[3] The sohal surgeonfish is endemic to the northwestern Indian Ocean where it is found in the Red Sea, east along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf.

[11] It is usually found on the outer edges of fringing reefs that are exposed to surge, typically down to depths of around 20 m (66 ft).