Acanthurus dussumieri is a deep-bodied, laterally-compressed oval fish with a maximum length of 54 cm (21 in).

[2] Juvenile fish are greyish with yellow and black caudal fins at first, but the body colour becomes dark brown later.

As they grow the body colour lightens and the longitudinal wavy lines and facial patterning begin to appear.

Its range extends from East Africa to southern Japan, Indonesia and eastern Australia, at depths down to about 130 m (427 ft).

Its diet includes the algal film that grows on rocks and other surfaces as well as diatoms and planktonic particles.