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Chiseltooth Wrasse
Pseudodax moluccanus
The chiseltooth wrasse (Pseudodax moluccanus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a wrasse from the family Labridae. It is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is an inhabitant of coral reefs and can be found at depths from 3 to 60 m (10 to 200 ft), though rarely deeper than 40 m (130 ft). This species grows to 30 cm (12 in) in total length. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade. P. moluccanus is the only known member of its genus.
From the article Chiseltooth wrasse on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The chiseltooth wrasse is greyish to reddish-brown in background colour and there is a dark streak or spot on each scale on their body. They have a yellow upper lip which has a blue streak above it and they have, blue teeth. The caudal fin is black with a blue margin. The juveniles are pale blue with a wide stripe along the flanks while the subadult fish show a yellow band at the base of the tail. The juveniles of this species bear a strong resemblance to the cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides and they also behave as cleaner fish. It has 11 spines and 12 rays in the dorsal fin while the anal fin has 3 spines and 14 soft rays. The maximum size reached is 30 centimetres (12 in) total length.
Range & habitat
The chisel tooth wrasse has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the western Indian Ocean from the Red Sea south to South Africa and eastwards to the Tuamotus, north to Japan and south to Lord Howe Island, Australia.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Pseudodax moluccanus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 111000.