moon wrasse
Thalassoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758)
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
The moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare) also known as the crescent wrasse or lyretail wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is an inhabitant of coral reefs and surrounding areas at depths from 1 to 20 m (3.3 to 65.6 ft). Moon wrasses are carnivorous and tend to prey on fish eggs and small sea-floor dwelling invertebrates. This species can reach 45 cm (18 in) in total length. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Wikipedia contributors, Moon wrasse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:54:22.110467+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Thalassoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- moon wrasse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Thalassoma
- 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
- subfamilyJulidinae Bonaparte, 1841
- genusThalassoma Swainson, 1839
- speciesThalassoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Thalassoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| bluntheaded wrasseThalassoma amblycephalum (Bleeker, 1856) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma ascensionis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blueheadThalassoma bifasciatum (Bloch, 1791) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma genivittatum (Valenciennes, 1839) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| sunset wrasseThalassoma grammaticum Gilbert, 1890 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma hardwicke (Bennett, 1830) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| goldbar wrasseThalassoma hebraicum (Lacepède, 1801) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma heiseri Randall & Edwards, 1984 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma jansenii (Bleeker, 1856) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cortez rainbow wrasseThalassoma lucasanum (Gill, 1862) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma lutescens (Lay & Bennett, 1839) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thalassoma noronhanum (Boulenger, 1890) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Labrus lunaris Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Thalassoma lunaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
| Thallasoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
| Julis lunaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
| Julis trimaculatus Rüppell, 1835 Rüppell, 1835 | 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=212209 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:55ZNK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.