Longnose emperor
Lethrinus olivaceus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
An olive-grey emperor with a snout far longer than any of its relatives, marked with dark wavy lines, and irregular blotches down the body. It drifts over the sand-reef edge alone or in twos, nosing into holes, and is wary at close range.
how to recognise it
- a very long snout — much longer than the other emperors
- dark wavy lines on the snout
- olive-grey with scattered irregular darker blotches
don’t confuse with
- Spangled emperor — the spangled emperor has a pale blue spot on the centre of each scale and three blue streaks across the cheek, and a much shorter snout
- Redthroat emperor — the redthroat has a red pectoral-fin base and a reddish head, and no long snout
- Grass sweetlip — the grass sweetlip has blue dots and short blue lines on the cheek, and a scaleless cheek
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 100 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~60 cm, to 100 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (100 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 118 at 17 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Osprey Reef (Coral Sea), Lizard Island — Cod Wall, Cod Hole (Ribbon Reefs GBR), Bougainville Reef (Coral Sea), Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Magnetic Island — Geoffrey Bay, SS Yongala Wreck, Marion Reef (Coral Sea), Cid Harbour (Whitsunday — West), North Horn (Coral Sea), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Heron Island (GBR), Erskine Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Lady Elliot Island (GBR), Tangalooma Wrecks (Moreton Is.). 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: 38cm · Limit: 5
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.