Blue tuskfish
Choerodon cyanodus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A greenish-grey tuskfish with a big pale patch under the back of the dorsal fin, blue edges to the fins and bright blue tips on the tail lobes. It patrols rubble and reef flat with a purposeful, rolling swim, crunching shells as it goes.
how to recognise it
- a large pale patch below the rear of the dorsal fin
- blue fin margins, with distinctive blue tips on both tail lobes
- an irregular pale bluish bar along the chin
- greenish-grey or rusty brown, sometimes with about five indistinct saddles along the back
don’t confuse with
- Purple tuskfish — the purple tuskfish has blue-EDGED scales and blue-and-orange forehead stripes, not one big pale patch
- Graphic tuskfish — the graphic tuskfish is banded and has a dark spot on the lateral line
- Anchor tuskfish — the anchor tuskfish has a black band around the pectoral-fin base and a yellow bar behind it
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 71 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~45 cm, to 71 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (71 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 289 at 22 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Low Isles (Port Douglas), Port Douglas (Outer GBR), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Frankland Islands (Cairns), Dunk Island (Mission Beach), Magnetic Island — Geoffrey Bay, Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Bait Reef (Whitsundays), Hayman Island — Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island — Manta Ray Bay, Border Island (Whitsundays — East), Tongue Bay (Whitsunday — North), Cid Harbour (Whitsunday — West), Pioneer Rocks (Whitsundays), Great Keppel Island (East), Great Keppel Island (West), Heron Island (GBR), Erskine Island, Fraser Island — Kingfisher Bay (West), Wolf Rock (Rainbow Beach), Delambre Island (Dampier WA), Exmouth (Navy Pier WA). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 30cm · Combined limit: 6 in total of all tuskfish species
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.