Thalassoma Explained

Thalassoma is a genus of wrasses native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Many species occasionally make their way into the aquarium trade.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

• Thalassoma amblycephalum (Bleeker, 1856) (blunt-headed wrasse)
• Thalassoma ascensionis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834) (Ascension wrasse)
• Thalassoma ballieui (Vaillant & Sauvage, 1875) (blacktail wrasse)
• Thalassoma bifasciatum (Bloch, 1791) (bluehead wrasse)
• Thalassoma cupido (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) (Cupid wrasse)
• Thalassoma duperrey (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) (saddle wrasse)
• Thalassoma genivittatum (Valenciennes, 1839) (red-cheek wrasse)
• Thalassoma grammaticum C. H. Gilbert, 1890 (sunset wrasse)
• Thalassoma hardwicke (J. W. Bennett, 1830) (sixbar wrasse)
• Thalassoma hebraicum (Lacépède, 1801) (goldbar wrasse)
• Thalassoma heiseri J. E. Randall & A. J. Edwards, 1984 (Pitcairn rainbow wrasse)
• Thalassoma jansenii (Bleeker, 1856) (Jansen's wrasse)
• Thalassoma loxum J. E. Randall & Mee, 1994 (Oman wrasse)
• Thalassoma lucasanum (T. N. Gill, 1862) (Cortez rainbow wrasse)
• Thalassoma lunare (Linnaeus, 1758) (moon wrasse)
• Thalassoma lutescens (Lay & E. T. Bennett, 1839) (yellow-brown wrasse)
• Thalassoma newtoni (Osório, 1891) (Newton's wrasse)
• Thalassoma nigrofasciatum J. E. Randall, 2003 (black-barred wrasse)
• Thalassoma noronhanum (Boulenger, 1890) (Noronha wrasse)
• Thalassoma pavo (Linnaeus, 1758) (ornate wrasse)
• Thalassoma purpureum (Forsskål, 1775) (surge wrasse)
• Thalassoma quinquevittatum (Lay & E. T. Bennett, 1839) (fivestripe wrasse)
• Thalassoma robertsoni G. R. Allen, 1995 (Robertson's rainbow wrasse)
• Thalassoma rueppellii (Klunzinger, 1871) (Klunzinger's wrasse)
• Thalassoma sanctaehelenae (Valenciennes, 1839) (St. Helena wrasse)
• Thalassoma septemfasciata T. D. Scott, 1959 (Seven-banded wrasse)
• Thalassoma trilobatum (Lacépède, 1801) (Christmas wrasse)
• Thalassoma virens C. H. Gilbert, 1890 (Eastern Pacific emerald wrasse)