Eyebrow Tuskfish, Choerodon zamboangae (Seale & Bean 1907)

Other Names: Purple Eyebrowed Tuskfish, Zamboanga Tuskfish

An Eyebrow Tuskfish, Choerodon zamboangae, at Tingloy, Batangas, Philippines, January 2025. Source: Francois Libert / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A tuskfish with a dark back, a pale lower half, and a red to reddish-brown wedge-shaped mark on the upper rear of the body.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Choerodon zamboangae in Fishes of Australia, accessed 10 Jul 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1930

Eyebrow Tuskfish, Choerodon zamboangae (Seale & Bean 1907)

More Info

Distribution	Northwest of Karratha, Western Australia, to south of Evans Shoal in the Arafura Sea, Northern Territory. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, west Pacific. Inhabits deep outer reefs, and adjacent sand/rubble flats and weedy areas.
Biology	A protogynous hermaphrodite, changing sex from female to male during the life cycle.
Fisheries	Eyebrow Tuskfish are usually caught on lines fishing deeper waters and are rarely seen by divers.
Remarks	Specimens from off northwestern Australia (off Browse Island, North West Shelf, WA, & SE of "Tassie Shoal", Arafura Sea, NT) that had previoisly been identified as Choerodon robustus are large individuals of C. zamboangae (Gomon 2017).
Etymology	The species is named for the type locality, Zamboanga in the Philippines.
Species Citation	Choerops zamboangae Seale & Bean 1907, Proc. U. S. Natl Mus. 33(1568): 236, fig. 6. Type locality: Zamboanga, Philippines.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Eyebrow Tuskfish, Choerodon zamboangae (Seale & Bean 1907)

References

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Cabanban, A., Pollard, D., Choat, J.H. & Russell, B. 2010. Choerodon zamboangae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T187419A8530888. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T187419A8530888.en. Downloaded on 03 September 2017.

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.

Gomon, M.F. 2017. A review of the tuskfishes, genus Choerodon (Labridae, Perciformes), with descriptions of three new species. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 76: 1-111 http://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2017.76.01

Jordan, D.S. & Richardson, R.E. 1910. Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago. Manila : Bureau of Science pp.1-78

Kuiter, R.H. 2010. Labridae fishes: wrasses. Seaford, Victoria, Australia : Aquatic Photographics pp. 398.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.

Seale, A. & Bean, B.A. 1907. On a collection of fishes from the Philippine Islands made by Maj. Edgar A. Mearns, Surgeon, U.S. Army, with descriptions of seven new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 33(1568): 229-248 figs 1-8 See ref at BHL

Westneat, M.W. 2001. Labridae. pp. 3381-3467 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.