Kyphosus cinerascens

An adult topsail sea chub grows up to 45 cm long and has a blue/grey, brown or black coloring.[6] They are a pale fish with dark lines that separate the rows of scales.[6]

The species of sea chub occurs around the Indo-central Pacific and Atlantic Ocean; along several locations near the Greater Caribbean; and some areas in Brazil.[6] The sea chub is regularly found taking residence in areas of aggregations over hard algal coated bottoms of exposed, surf-swept outer reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs. They are commonly seen occupying depths of 24 - 45m near these rocky areas.[7] Their habitats are usually seen within the Equatorial, Tropical, and Subtropical climate zones.

The sea chubs are herbivores that primarily eat phaeophytes, chlorophytes, and rhodophytes.[5]

Sea chubs are typically more active during the day where they can be found swimming in schools of 10 or more along the reef, although at night only lone individuals can be found swimming near the sea floor.[8] They are usually found feeding on algae found on rocks and even free-floating algae particles.[8] Meanwhile, their nocturnal habits and behaviors are still unknown despite their common solitary observations.

There are five known species of Kyphosus found in Hawai'i, with four being from the drab genus Kyphosus and the other being the Sectator ocyurus.[9] However due to the species of Kyphosus choosing algae as their main source of food, the State of Hawai'i was advised to put this fish species under protective care to help restore the control of nearby algae.[9]