Wedgetail tuskfish
Choerodon sugillatum
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A small tuskfish marked with one black-and-blue slash above the pectoral fin in males, or an orange side stripe in females and young. It works rubble patches off the reef edge and is easy to pass over as "a little wrasse" until the slash catches the light.
how to recognise it
- a prominent black and blue slash-like mark on the upper side, above and behind the pectoral-fin base, in males
- females and juveniles have an orange mid-lateral stripe instead, and the slash is smaller and rounder
- the upper corner of the pectoral fin is rather pointed and its lower ray is elongated, so the fin's rear margin looks crescent-shaped
- small for a tuskfish: about 15 cm
don’t confuse with
- Dagger tuskfish — the dagger tuskfish has a broad yellow stripe going blackish at the rear and a large pale oval patch below the rear dorsal
- Redstripe tuskfish — the redstripe has a dark reddish-brown stripe down the middle of the side ending in a dark spot at the tail base
- Darkspot tuskfish — the darkspot carries its black spot ON the dorsal fin, not on the body
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 15 cm SL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~12 cm, to 15 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (15 cm SL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 21 at 7 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Frankland Islands (Cairns), SS Yongala Wreck, Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Heron Island (GBR). 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.