Novaculops pastellus (Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Novaculops pastellus, the Lord Howe sandy, is a fish of the family Labridae, subfamily Xyrichtyinae, commonly known as razorfishes. It's a rare fish known only from the Lord Howe Island region in the Tasman Sea, and inhabits open sandy bottoms. Like other razorfishes, it dives quickly into the sand when threatened. This species was originally described in the genus Xyrichthys and later transferred to Novaculops. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List.
Wikipedia contributors, Novaculops pastellus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:22:55.596011+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Novaculops pastellus (Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008)
- Name authority
- (Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Novaculops
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- familyLabridae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyXyrichtyinae Bonaparte, 1841
- genusNovaculops Schultz, 1960
- speciesNovaculops pastellus (Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Novaculops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Novaculops halsteadi (Randall & Lobel, 2003) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Novaculops woodi (Jenkins, 1901) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Novaculops alvheimi Randall, 2013 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rapanui sandyNovaculops koteamea (Randall & Allen, 2004) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Novaculops sciistius (Jordan & Thompson, 1914) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Xyrichtys pastellus Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008 Randall, Earle & Rocha, 2008 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1008571 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:47ZWQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.