Prionurus punctatus, the yellowtail surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This fish is found in the eastern central Pacific Ocean.
Prionurus punctatus was first formally described in 1862 by the American biologist Theodore Gill with its type locality given as Cape San Lucas in Baja California Sur.[3] The genus Prionurus is the only genus in the tribe Prionurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamiles in the family Acanthuridae.[4] The yellowtail surgeonfish and the razor surgeonfish (P. laticlavius) are closely related and more work is needed to determine the relationship of these two taxa.[1] Some authorities regard this taxon as a synonym of P. laticlavius.[3]