Chiseltooth Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Chiseltooth Wrasse is widespread across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia, northern Australia, and the central Pacific.
• It is named for its unique chisel-shaped teeth, which are perfect for scraping algae, coral polyps, and tiny invertebrates from hard reef surfaces.
• The body is usually green to bluish, marked with faint vertical bars, and the head often shows fine blue lines and spots.
• Juveniles are much more colourful, with orange to reddish tones and a bold dark stripe running along the side.
• Like many wrasses, it is a sequential hermaphrodite, starting life as a female, with some individuals later changing to males.
• It is a diurnal species, active by day and resting in reef crevices at night.
• Chiseltooth Wrasses are strong swimmers, often patrolling reef flats and slopes in search of food.
• They are usually seen singly or in small loose groups, darting quickly over coral heads.
• Their feeding behaviour helps control algae and small invertebrates, contributing to reef balance.
• Breeding occurs in pairs or small groups, with eggs released into the water column to drift with currents until hatching.
• Because they are the only species in the genus Pseudodax, they are of special scientific interest as a unique evolutionary branch of the wrasse family.
• The lifespan is not well documented but is estimated at 5–7 years, similar to other wrasses of this size.