aculeatus, Balistes Linnaeus [C.] 1758:328 [Systema Naturae, Ed. X v. 1; ref. 2787] Indo-West Pacific. No types known. Neotype designation by Fricke 1999:584 [ref. 24106] is invalid; see Fricke 2000:639 [ref. 24537]. •Valid as Rhinecanthus aculeatus (Linnaeus 1758) -- (Matsuura in Masuda et al. 1984:358 [ref. 6441], Smith & Heemstra 1986:880 [ref. 5714], Allen & Swainston 1988:150 [ref. 25477], Matsuura & Shiobara 1989:317 [ref. 13563], Winterbottom et al. 1989:68 [ref. 13251], Randall et al. 1990:455 [ref. 15987], Harmelin-Vivien & Quéro 1990:1060 [ref. 19527], Kuiter 1993:395 [ref. 23929], Francis 1993:168 [ref. 25479], Allen 1997:238 [ref. 23977], Chen et al. 1997:180 [ref. 26476], Kuiter 1997:386 [ref. 25488], Randall et al. 1997:455 [ref. 25919], Randall & Mundy 1998:331 [ref. 24063], Myers 1999:282 [ref. 23965], Fricke 1999:583 [ref. 24106], Randall 1999:30 [ref. 25829], Matsuura in Randall & Lim 2000:647 [ref. 25122], Nakabo 2000:1400 [ref. 25182], Laboute & Grandperrin 2000:456 [ref. 25191], Randall & Earle 2000:22 [ref. 25806], Allen 2000:124 [ref. 25868], Hutchins 2001:47 [ref. 25847], Matsuura 2001:3925 [ref. 26315], Nakabo 2002:1400 [ref. 26193], Choi et al. 2003:447, 691 [ref. 26218], Allen & Adrim 2003:64 [ref. 26830], Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003:S123 [ref. 27377], Myers & Donaldson 2003:649 [ref. 27495], Lobel & Lobel 2004:77 [ref. 27576], Randall et al. 2004:31 [ref. 27624], Heemstra et al. 2004:3331 [ref. 27945], Heemstra & Heemstra 2004:442 [ref. 28072], Randall 2005:626 [ref. 28239], Mundy 2005:525 [ref. 28379], Allen et al. 2006:1874 [ref. 29098], Randall 2007:471 [ref. 30952], Fricke et al. 2009:117 [ref. 30213], Motomura et al. 2010:233 [ref. 31256], Caratini & Soriano 2011:12 [ref. 39915], Allen & Erdmann 2012:1065 [ref. 31980], Fricke et al. 2013:272 [ref. 32706], Wirtz et al. 2013:136 [ref. 32972], Matsuura 2014:7 [ref. 33576], Delrieu-Trottin et al. 2015:8 [ref. 33988], Koeda et al. 2016:111 [ref. 35333], Koeda et al. 2016:18 [ref. 35354], Fowler et al. 2017:[4] 2252 [ref. 36358], Fricke et al. 2018:378 [ref. 35805], Arndt & Fricke 2019:11 [ref. 36883], Fricke et al. 2019:323 [ref. 36673], Parenti 2021:656 [ref. 38921], Matsuura 2022:423 [ref. 40250], Moazzam & Osmany 2022:334 [ref. 39925], Noushad K. et al. 2024:46 [ref. 40947]). Current status: Valid as Rhinecanthus aculeatus (Linnaeus 1758). Balistidae. Distribution: Eastern Atlantic: Senegal, South Africa; Indo-West Pacific: Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), East Africa, Seychelles, Comoros, Mozambique Channel, Madagascar and Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues) east to Pitcairn Group, north to southern Japan and Ogasawara Islands (Japan), south to southern New South Wales (Australia) and Lord Howe Island (Australia). Habitat: marine.