Yellowtail wrasse
Anampses meleagrides
- Usual depth5–22 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, May, and June
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
The spotted wrasse, Anampses meleagrides, is a species of wrasse native to the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea and East Africa to the western Pacific Ocean to Samoa and the Tuamoto Islands and north to Japan. This species is found on coral reefs at depths of 3 to 60 m. It can reach a length of 22 cm (8.7 in). It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotted wrasse”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 37 records
- February: 71 records
- March: 77 records
- April: 119 records
- May: 91 records
- June: 92 records
- July: 74 records
- August: 59 records
- September: 64 records
- October: 66 records
- November: 65 records
- December: 37 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–22 m · Deepest record: 33 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Yellowtail wrasse, Dotted Wrasse, Marble Wrasse, speckled wrasse, Spotted wrasse, Yellow Tail Tamarin, yellowtail wrasse
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Gelbschwanz-Junker
- Filipino
- Bungat, Mameng
- French
- Labre à Queue Jaune, Labre Pintade
- Japanese
- Hokutobera, ホクトベラ
- Simplified Chinese
- 北斗鸚鯛, 娘仔魚, 珍珠龍, 真珠龍, 黃尾阿南魚, 黃尾龍, 黄尾阿南鱼
Other scientific names: Anampses amboinensis, Anampses ikedai, Anampses lunatus, Anampses meleagris, Anampses nagayoi
Similar species
Bluespotted wrasseAnampses caeruleopunctatus
Geographic wrasseAnampses geographicus
Yellowbreasted wrasseAnampses twistii
- Psychedelic Wrasse
Anampses chrysocephalus
- Cuvier's Tamarin
Anampses cuvier
- Elegans Wrasse
Anampses elegans
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 795 open-data records from 1931 to 2021.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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