chiseltooth wrasse
Pseudodax moluccanus (Valenciennes, 1840)
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.
Chiseltooth wrasse (Pseudodax moluccanus), Red Sea, Egypt
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The chiseltooth wrasse (Pseudodax moluccanus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a wrasse from the family Labridae. It is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is an inhabitant of coral reefs and can be found at depths from 3 to 60 m (10 to 200 ft), though rarely deeper than 40 m (130 ft). This species grows to 30 cm (12 in) in total length. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade. P. moluccanus is the only known member of its genus.
Wikipedia contributors, Chiseltooth wrasse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:23:50.419923+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pseudodax moluccanus (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Common name
- chiseltooth wrasse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Pseudodax
- 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
- subfamilyHypsigenyinae Günther, 1861
- tribeClepticini Bleeker, 1862
- genusPseudodax Bleeker, 1861
- speciesPseudodax moluccanus (Valenciennes, 1840)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pseudodax moluccans (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Pseudodax mollucanus (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Pseudodax molluccanus (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Pseudodax molucanus (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Odax moluccanus Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840 | 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=219046 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.
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:4NVSD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.