Thalassoma
| Thalassoma | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Sunset wrasse (T. lutescens) | |
.jpg) | |
| Surge wrasse (T. purpureum) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Labriformes |
| Family: | Labridae |
| Subfamily: | Julidinae |
| Genus: | Thalassoma Swainson, 1839 |
| Type species | |
| Scarus purpureus | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
Thalassoma is a genus of wrasses native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Many species occasionally make their way into the aquarium trade.[3]
Taxonomy
Although traditionally considered distinct genera, studies have repeatedly found that the two species of Gomphosus are nested within Thalassoma.[4] This close affinity is reflected by the fact that in the wild, Gomphosus will sometimes create hybrid offspring with Thalassoma species.[5][6] In 2025, it was proposed that all species in Thalassoma should be transferred to Gomphosus.[7]
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[3]
| Species | Common name | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Thalassoma amblycephalum
(Bleeker, 1856) |
blunt-headed wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma ascensionis | Ascension wrasse | |
| Thalassoma ballieui | blacktail wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma bifasciatum
(Bloch, 1791) |
bluehead wrasse |  |
| Thalassoma cupido | Cupid wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma duperrey
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) |
saddle wrasse | _(cropped).jpg) |
| Thalassoma genivittatum
(Valenciennes, 1839) |
red-cheek wrasse |  |
| Thalassoma grammaticum
C. H. Gilbert, 1890 |
sunset wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma hardwicke
(J. W. Bennett, 1830) |
sixbar wrasse | _(46196858985)_(cropped).jpg) |
| Thalassoma hebraicum
(Lacépède, 1801) |
goldbar wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma heiseri
J. E. Randall & A. J. Edwards, 1984 |
Pitcairn rainbow wrasse | |
| Thalassoma jansenii
(Bleeker, 1856) |
Jansen's wrasse | .png) |
| Thalassoma loxum
J. E. Randall & Mee, 1994 |
Oman wrasse | |
| Thalassoma lucasanum
(T. N. Gill, 1862) |
Cortez rainbow wrasse | _(cropped).jpg) |
| Thalassoma lunare
(Linnaeus, 1758) |
moon wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma lutescens
(Lay & E. T. Bennett, 1839) |
sunset wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma newtoni
(Osório, 1891) |
Newton's wrasse | |
| Thalassoma nigrofasciatum
J. E. Randall, 2003 |
black-barred wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma noronhanum
(Boulenger, 1890) |
Noronha wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma pavo
(Linnaeus, 1758) |
ornate wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma purpureum
(Forsskål, 1775) |
surge wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma quinquevittatum
(Lay & E. T. Bennett, 1839) |
fivestripe wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma robertsoni
G. R. Allen, 1995 |
Robertson's rainbow wrasse | |
| Thalassoma rueppellii
(Klunzinger, 1871) |
Klunzinger's wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma sanctaehelenae
(Valenciennes, 1839) |
St. Helena wrasse | |
| Thalassoma septemfasciata
T. D. Scott, 1959 |
seven-banded wrasse | |
| Thalassoma trilobatum
(Lacépède, 1801) |
Christmas wrasse | .jpg) |
| Thalassoma virens
C. H. Gilbert, 1890 |
emerald wrasse | .jpg) |
References
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Thalassoma". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Labridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Thalassoma". FishBase. October 2013 version.
- ↑ Hughes, Lily C; Nash, Chloe M; White, William T; Westneat, Mark W (2023-06-17). Matschiner, Michael (ed.). "Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae)". Systematic Biology. 72 (3): 530–543. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syac072. ISSN 1063-5157.
- ↑ "Gomphosus varius summary page". FishBase. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ "Bird Wrasse Saddle Wrasse hybrid". www.hawaiisfishes.com. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ Near, Thomas J.; Brownstein, Chase D.; Thacker, Christine E.; Wainwright, Peter C. (2025-10-16). "Phylogenetic Taxonomy of Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Labridae)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 66 (2). doi:10.3374/014.066.0201. ISSN 0079-032X.