Anchor Trunkfish

Choerodon anchorago

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–17 m
Water temperature25–30 °C
Best monthsJuly, September, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) James-LaFontaine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The orange-dotted tuskfish is a species of wrasse native to the Indo-Pacific region from Sri Lanka in the west to French Polynesia in the east. Its range extends north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to New Caledonia. It inhabits reefs at depths from 1 to 25 m (3.3–82.0 ft). This species can reach a length of 50 cm (20 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Orange-dotted tuskfish”, 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: 70 records
February: 40 records
March: 74 records
April: 91 records
May: 87 records
June: 67 records
July: 105 records
August: 68 records
September: 102 records
October: 106 records
November: 96 records
December: 72 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–17 m · Deepest record: 135 m

0–10 m: 90 records
10–20 m: 10 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 8 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 25–30 °C

24–26 °C: 8 records
26–28 °C: 21 records
28–30 °C: 162 records

Photos

(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
(c) Solomon Islands Fish ID Project, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) libby hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) PampaSorro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Anchor Trunkfish, Anchor Tuskfish, orangedotted tuskfish, Orange-dotted tuskfish, Orange-dotted Tusk-fish, White-belly Tuskfish, Yellow-cheek Tuskfish

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Lábrido Colmillón, Vieja de Colmillos
Filipino: Bankilan, Bungat, Isdang bato, Mameng
French: Labre à nageoires jaunes, Maidague défense
Japanese: Kusabi-bera, Kusabibera, クサビベラ
Simplified Chinese: 四齒仔, 楔斑寒鯛, 楔斑猪齿鱼, 石老, 西齒, 鞍斑豬齒魚, 黑簾仔

Other scientific names: Chaerodon anchorago, Choerodon weberi, Choerops maeander, Choerops meleagris, Cossyphus macrodon, Crenilabrus leucozona, Labrus chlorodus, Labrus macrodontus, Sparus anchorago

Similar species

Blackspot Tuskfish
Choerodon schoenleinii
Choerodon typus
Black-blotch Tuskfish
Choerodon zosterophorus
White-patch Tuskfish
Choerodon oligacanthus
Eyebrow Tuskfish
Choerodon zamboangae
Tripletail wrasse
Cheilinus trilobatus

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).
605 open-data records from 1929 to 2021.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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