Sharp-headed wrasse
Cymolutes lecluse
- Usual depth1–20 m
- Water temperature24–29 °C
- Best monthsSeptember and October
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by cello caruso-turiello · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Cymolutes lecluse, the sharp-headed wrasse or Hawaiian knifefish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands where it is found in lagoons over sandy substrates and is piscivorous. It is found at depths of between 5–119 metres (16–390 ft).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cymolutes lecluse”, 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: 3 records
- February: 1 records
- March: 5 records
- April: 7 records
- May: 5 records
- June: 4 records
- July: 10 records
- August: 7 records
- September: 16 records
- October: 19 records
- November: 5 records
- December: 7 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–20 m · Deepest record: 61 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C
Photos
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Sharp-headed wrasse, brownlined wrasse, Brown-lined Wrasse, Hawaiian Knifefish, Molmol, sharp-headed wrasse, Slender Razorfish, Slender Sand Wrasse
Names in 1 more languages
- Filipino
- Mameng
Other scientific names: Hemipteronotus leclusei, Xyrichthys lecluse
Similar species
Knife RazorfishCymolutes praetextatus
Finescale razorfishCymolutes torquatus
Tripletail wrasseCheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head ParrotfishChlorurus microrhinos
bullethead parrotfishChlorurus sordidus
Clown wrasseCoris aygula
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).
- 74 open-data records from 1889 to 2019.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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