Fun Blackspot Tuskfish Facts For Kids

 The blackspot tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) is a big yellow-bellied fish found mostly in the Western Pacific Ocean, swimming in the coral reefs between the Ryuku Islands of Japan, Hong Kong, and Northern Australia. These fishes are locally known by names like green wrasse or bluebone.

In some parts of New South Wales and Indonesia, this species occurs quite frequently. They get their name because of the peculiar black spot that exists behind the dorsal fin of this species of fish.

These fishes have a large body compared to many other coral fishes. Juveniles prefer living in sandy areas of the Pacific coral reef.

These fishes are somewhat sexually dimorphic and the males are predominantly yellow and blue in color while the females have a green color on their body and are yellow-bellied. These fishes belong to the family of Labridae and the genus Choerodon.

 If you like reading about interesting aquatic creatures like this one, be sure to check out more interesting facts about the rainbow cichlid or the slipper lobster.

Blackspot Tuskfish Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a blackspot tuskfish?

This blackspot tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) is a wrasse fish belonging to the family of Labridae.

What class of animal does a blackspot tuskfish belong to?

Like most other aquatic creatures that can be found in marine reef regions, this species of wrasse fishes belongs to the animal class of Actinopterygii.

How many blackspot tuskfish are there in the world?

Studies show that there happen to be over 24 species of tuskfishes belonging to the genus Choerodon. This makes it almost impossible to determine the exact number of this specific species of fish that can be found in the wild.

However, since the IUCN has listed the conservation of this species of fish as Near Threatened, we can assume that there might not be a lot of these fishes swimming freely in the marine reef regions of the Pacific Ocean currently.

Where does a blackspot tuskfish live?

The blackspot tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) is a species of fish that is predominantly found in the Western Pacific Ocean region.

A large number of these wrasse fishes can be found swimming in a group of a very few fishes across the marine ecosystem spread out between the south of Ryuku Islands of Japan, the coastal regions of Hong Kong, Indonesia, and finally north of Australia.

This species of fish can also be found swimming in marine ecosystems near regions like New South Wales and Byron Bay.

What is a blackspot tuskfish's habitat?

The blackspot tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) habitat mostly consists of underwater, sandy marine reef-type ecosystems where they can find plenty of sea urchins to feed on.

Who do blackspot tuskfishes live with?

This black spot fish lives in a group where most of the fishes are females and there is only a single male fish. This group is called a harem and the big blue male fishes are responsible for protecting and looking after the harem.

How long does a blackspot tuskfish live?

There has not been lot of research done on these fishes, so we do not know the lifespan of this fish.

How do they reproduce?

Research has shown that this species of fishes are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning all fishes are born as females, however by the time they are juveniles, they are able to change the sexual orientation of their body and basically change their sex.

Studies show that the largest female member of the harem is usually the one that changes its sex and becomes the sole male member of the group.

These fishes are oviparous in nature and lay a group of pelagic eggs that usually settle in the aquatic reefs and eventually the smaller fishes hatch out of the eggs.

What is their conservation status?

 As of now, the IUCN has stated the conservation status of these fishes as Near Threatened on their website.

Blackspot Tuskfish Fun Facts

What do blackspot tuskfish look like?

These wrasse fishes get their name because of the black spot that exists at the end of the dorsal fin of this species. These fishes have yellow bellies and in a group, the majority of these fish happen to be green in color.

However, male fishes happen to be predominantly blue.

However, it is quite rare to find a blue one since only male fish exists in a big group of female fishes. These fishes are also seen to have really sharp teeth that act as tools to break up scattered bones or shell pieces to get food!

How cute are they?

This black spot fish species happens to be extremely beautiful and can often be seen shining in various photo pictures due to the bioluminescence of planktons that exist near marine reefs which these fishes are residents of. They are much cuter compared to other aquatic creatures like the piranha or jellyfish.

How do they communicate?

You probably won't be able to search for information regarding the communication between these Western Pacific fishes, mainly because not a lot of research has been done.

How big is a blackspot tuskfish?

The body of this black spot fish can grow pretty large compared to many of the other regular fishes that can be found in various water bodies. An adult can grow three times the size of a fully grown round goby.

How fast can a blackspot tuskfish swim?

There isn't much scientific research done regarding how fast these big creatures swim. However, considering how often these fishes are caught near aquatic reefs, we can assume that these fishes are not as fast as other aquatic creatures of the family Labridae.

How much does a blackspot tuskfish weigh?

These marine creatures love to eat and their body weight reflects this! According to the scientific research conducted by many fish websites, scientists have concluded that a fully grown black spot tusk fish can weigh around 11-34 lb (5-15.5 kg) which is the same weight as a coyote!

What are the male and female names of the species?

These sea creatures don't go by different names for different sexes. There are not any sex specific names for these tuskfishes.

What would you call a baby blackspot tuskfish?

There have been various references made to baby tuskfishes as a fry.

What do they eat?

Tuskfishes eat various aquatic creatures such as Echinoderms, crustaceans, mollusks, and sea urchins.

Are they aggressive?

No, these fishes are not aggressive which may be one of the reasons why they are considered a delicacy in countries where there happens to be a large distribution of these creatures.

Would they make a good pet?

In the majority of the places of distribution, these fishes are hunted for food. It would be quite uncommon to have one as a pet.

Did you know...

These Western Pacific creatures are extremely smart.

The blackspot tuskfish uses tools like bones or parts of shells to break the shell of different crustaceans!

The hunting of these creatures has significantly increased in the last few years, which has resulted in IUCN categorizing these creatures as Near Threatened.

Even though the distribution of this fish is seen all across the world, it's rare to find one in a random fishing expedition.

How did the blackspot tuskfish get its name?

There isn't a lot of science involved in naming this fish. It gets its name because of the black spot that exists behind its dorsal fin.

Can you eat blackspot tuskfish?

In many parts of the world, these fish are eaten as a common seafood delicacy.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fish from our immortal jellyfish facts and tilefish facts pages. 

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Fiji blue devil damselfish coloring pages.