Rockmover wrasse
Novaculichthys taeniourus
- Usual depth2–23 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsMarch, April, and September
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Novaculichthys taeniourus, also known as the rockmover wrasse, carpet wrasse, dragon wrasse, bar-cheeked wrasse, olive-scribbled wrasse or reindeer wrasse, is a species of wrasse mainly found in coral reefs and lagoons in the Indo-Pacific region. These include habitats in the Gulf of California to Panama; tropical Pacific Ocean islands including Hawaii; the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia; and the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa. The common name, "rockmover wrasse", comes from their behavior of upending small stones and reef fragments in search of prey. This species is the only known member of its genus.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Novaculichthys”, 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: 214 records
- February: 244 records
- March: 331 records
- April: 338 records
- May: 290 records
- June: 230 records
- July: 267 records
- August: 259 records
- September: 296 records
- October: 269 records
- November: 221 records
- December: 205 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–23 m · Deepest record: 112.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Jim Moore (Maryland), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) CaracalShan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) John Hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) PampaSorro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Rockmover wrasse, Bar-cheeked Wrasse, Carpet Wrasse, clown wrasse, Dragon Wrasse, Masked Razorfish, Rockmover wrasse, Masked Wrasse, Olive-scribbled Wrasse, Reindeer Wrasse, rockmover, rockmover wrasse, Tahiti Sand Wrasse
Names in 7 more languages
- German
- Bäumchen-Lippfisch, Brauner Bäumchenfisch
- Spanish
- cuchillo dragón, Doncella Alguera, Señorita Alguera, Vieja Dragón
- Filipino
- Bankilan, Bungat, Isdang bato, Mameng
- French
- Labre Masqué, Labre rasoir masqué, Labre-rasoir masqué, Mardel, Rason algue
- Japanese
- Obi-tensumodoki, Obitensumodoki, オビテンスモドキ
- Thai
- ปลานกขุนทองมังกร, ปลานกขุนทองย้ายหิน, ปลาพลิกหิน
- Simplified Chinese
- 娘仔魚, 带尾美鳍鱼, 帶尾新隆魚, 帶尾美鰭魚, 帶尾鸚鯛, 角龍
Other scientific names: Hemipteronotus taeniourus, Hemipteronotus taeniurus, Julis bifer, Labrus taeniours, Labrus taeniourus, Novaculichthys bifer, Novaculichthys taeniorus, Novaculichthys taeniurus, Novaculichtys taeniorus, Xyrichthys taeniouris
Similar species
Blue GroperAchoerodus gouldii
Blue GroperAchoerodus viridis
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).
- 1,958 open-data records from 1902 to 2024.
- Species data updated October 30, 2026.
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