Harlequin tuskfish
Choerodon fasciatus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
Orange-red bars from back to belly, every one of them outlined in bright electric blue, and a set of protruding blue teeth that the fish does not keep to itself. It works along the reef turning over rubble and cracking shellfish, so a diver usually finds it head-down and busy rather than watching back.
how to recognise it
- seven or eight pairs of bold bands — orange-red, blue, white and blackish
- blue teeth
- small for a tuskfish
don’t confuse with
- Blackspot tuskfish — the blackspot is big, plain blue-green, and has one black spot at the base of the rear dorsal fin
- Bridled tuskfish — the bridled tuskfish is small and reddish with blue diagonal stripes on the snout and under the eye, not bold orange-red bars
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-13. Our wording, their facts. Max size 30 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~25 cm, to 30 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (30 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 46 at 3 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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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.