Knife Razorfish

About this species

Cymolutes praetextatus, the knife razorfish or knife wrasse, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific where it occurs over reef flats and in shallow lagoons.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cymolutes praetextatus”, 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: 17 records
February: 20 records
March: 10 records
April: 202 records
May: 213 records
June: 12 records
July: 14 records
August: 19 records
September: 16 records
October: 16 records
November: 15 records
December: 9 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–22 m · Deepest record: 150 m

0–10 m: 25 records
10–20 m: 4 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 2 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: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 114 records
26–28 °C: 204 records
28–30 °C: 32 records

Photos

(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Susan Prior · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Susan Prior · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lexi Amico, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Knife Razorfish, Knife Wrasse

Names in 1 more languages

French: Labre-rasoir couteau

Other scientific names: Cymolutes praetextatis, Julis praetextata

Similar species

Sharp-headed wrasse
Cymolutes lecluse
Finescale razorfish
Cymolutes torquatus
Blue Groper
Achoerodus gouldii
Blue Groper
Achoerodus viridis
Tripletail wrasse
Cheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head Parrotfish
Chlorurus microrhinos

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 1927 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.