Gomon's tuskfish
Choerodon gomoni
Illustration: Bloom by Day
The smallest tuskfish here, barely a hand long: big males carry a broad white stripe down the side and a soft reddish-brown smudge on the back behind the middle of the dorsal fin. It lives deep over rubble and is rarely noticed at all.
how to recognise it
- terminal males have a broad white stripe along the midside
- and a large, DIFFUSE reddish-brown spot on the back below the base of the 9th to 11th dorsal spines, its front edge bordered with white
- a second, much smaller and fainter red spot above the pectoral fin
- initial-phase fish are rosy-pink above and paler pink to white below, with a faint yellow to orange-brown stripe and a bright red margin on the tail
- tiny: to about 11 cm
don’t confuse with
- Darkspot tuskfish — the darkspot's black spot is ON the dorsal fin and clearly ringed, not a diffuse patch on the back
- Dagger tuskfish — the dagger tuskfish has a broad YELLOW side stripe and a pale oval patch below the rear dorsal
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 11 cm SL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~9 cm, to 11 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (11 cm SL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 26 at 2 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Heron Island (GBR), 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.