Spottail coris

Coris caudimacula

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–81 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsApril and May
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Coris caudimacula, the spot-tail coris, is a fish found in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and on the east coast of Africa from Oman to East London. The fish has already been spotted in Mossel Bay.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Coris caudimacula”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 32 records
February: 26 records
March: 34 records
April: 93 records
May: 60 records
June: 33 records
July: 42 records
August: 43 records
September: 30 records
October: 51 records
November: 33 records
December: 28 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–81 m · Deepest record: 290 m

0–10 m: 23 records
10–20 m: 35 records
20–30 m: 19 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 7 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 36 records
24–26 °C: 76 records
26–28 °C: 67 records
28–30 °C: 6 records

Photos

(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Mahomed Desai, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Cos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Spottail coris, spottail coris, Spot-tail Wrasse, Spotted-tail Wrasse, Spotted Tail Wrasse, Tail-spot Rainbow-wrasse, Tailspot Wrasse

Names in 4 more languages

German: Schwanzfleck-Junker
Spanish: Coris de Cola Moteada
French: Girelle à Tache Caudale
Simplified Chinese: 尾斑盔魚, 尾斑鸚鯛, 柳冷仔

Other scientific names: Coris multicolor, Halichoeres multicolor, Julis caudimacula

Similar species

Blushing Wrasse
Coris auricularis
Clown wrasse
Coris aygula
African Clown Wrasse
Coris gaimard
Elegant Coris
Coris venusta
Batu Coris
Coris batuensis
Doubleheader
Coris bulbifrons

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).
587 open-data records from 1946 to 2023.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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