Bluntheaded wrasse

Thalassoma amblycephalum

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–16 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsApril
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Thalassoma amblycephalum, the blunt-headed wrasse, blue-headed wrasse, blue-headed zoe, moon wrasse, paddle-fin wrasse or two-tone wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is a reef inhabitant, being found in schools at depths from 1 to 15 m. This species can reach 16 cm (6.3 in) in standard length. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Thalassoma amblycephalum”, 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: 326 records
February: 523 records
March: 1,003 records
April: 1,918 records
May: 805 records
June: 802 records
July: 321 records
August: 312 records
September: 375 records
October: 350 records
November: 227 records
December: 149 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–16 m · Deepest record: 65 m

0–10 m: 3,182 records
10–20 m: 1,958 records
20–30 m: 297 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 11 records
26–28 °C: 233 records
28–30 °C: 488 records

Photos

(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Andrew Allen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bluntheaded wrasse, Bluehead Wrasse, blunt-headed wrasse, bluntheaded wrasse, Parrotfish, Rainbow wrasse, Rainbow Wrasse, Bluntheaded wrasse, Two-tone Wrasse

Names in 3 more languages

French: Labre arc-en-ciel
Japanese: Kogashirabera, コガシラベラ
Simplified Chinese: 四齒, 碇仔, 礫仔, 鈍吻葉鯛, 鈍頭葉鯛, 鈍頭錦魚, 钝头锦鱼, 青開叉

Other scientific names: Julis amblycephalus, Julis melanochir, Pseudojulis trifasciatus, Pseudojuloides trifasciatus, Thalassoma amblycephala, Thalassoma amblycephalus, Thalassoma melanochir

Similar species

Moon wrasse
Thalassoma lunare
Parrotfish
Thalassoma hardwicke
Blue-fin Wrasse
Thalassoma lutescens
blackspot wrasse
Thalassoma quinquevittatum
Jansen's Wrasse
Thalassoma jansenii
Surge wrasse
Thalassoma purpureum

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).
7,752 open-data records from 1906 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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