• Home
• About Fishes
• Fish Department
• Collections
• What's new
• Find a fish
  • Species name
  • Common name
  • Type of fish
  • Glossary
• Identify a fish
• Student stuff
• FAQs
• Fish movies
• Fish links

Find a Fish

Moon Wrasse
Thalassoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758)

A Moon Wrasse at a depth of 10m, Halifax Park, Port Stephens, New South Wales. View larger image.

A Moon Wrasse caught on hook and line (then released) at a depth of 5m, Hook Island, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, August 2002. View larger image.

The Moon Wrasse is green with vertical red lines on the body scales. The caudal fin is truncate (glossary) in juveniles but changes to lunate in adults.

Juveniles are blue on the lower half of the body. They have a black spot in the middle of the dorsal fin and a black blotch on the caudal fin base.

This species grows to 30cm in length.

It is found in tropical and warm temperate waters of the Indo-Pacific.

In Australia it is known from south-western Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the southern coast of New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
2. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
3. Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
4. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
5. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
6. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.