Dagger tuskfish
Choerodon jordani
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A slender grey tuskfish with a broad yellow side stripe that darkens toward the tail and a pale oval patch under the back of the dorsal fin. It is a deeper-rubble fish, small and quick, and usually seen going away.
how to recognise it
- a broad yellow stripe along the side that goes blackish toward the rear
- a large pale oval patch below the rear of the dorsal-fin base, running onto the upper part of the tail base
- the upper margin of the tail is dark in adults
- small and slender, greyish
don’t confuse with
- Wedgetail tuskfish — the wedgetail has a black and blue slash above the pectoral base and a crescent-edged pectoral fin
- Redstripe tuskfish — the redstripe's side stripe is reddish-brown and ends in a dark spot at the tail base
- Gomon's tuskfish — Gomon's tuskfish has a broad WHITE midside stripe and a diffuse reddish-brown spot on the back, where this one's stripe is yellow going blackish
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 17 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~13 cm, to 17 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (17 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 25 at 3 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Heron Island (GBR), Erskine Island, Lady Musgrave Island. 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.