Gomphosus

Gomphosus
Green birdmouth wrasse (G. caeruleus)
Bird wrasse (G. varius)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Subfamily: Julidinae
Genus: Gomphosus
Lacépède, 1801
Type species
Gomphosus caeruleus
Lacépède, 1801
Synonyms
  • Acarauna Sevastianoff, 1802
  • Elops Bonaparte, 1831

Gomphosus is a small genus of wrasses native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

Although classified as its own genus, the genus Gomphosus is nested within the genus Thalassoma, rendering the latter paraphyletic. This close affinity is reflected by the fact that in the wild, Gomphosus will sometimes create hybrid offspring with Thalassoma species. In 2025, it was proposed that all species in Thalassoma should be transferred to Gomphosus.

A potential third species of bird wrasse, Gomphosus klunzingeri Klausewitz 1962, has variably been considered its own species, a subspecies of G. caeruleus, or a synonym of the former. It is endemic to the Red Sea.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

References

  1. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Gomphosus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Labridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Gomphosus". FishBase. August 2013 version.
  4. ↑ Hughes, Lily C; Nash, Chloe M; White, William T; Westneat, Mark W (2022-11-04). "Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae)". Systematic Biology. 72 (3): 530–543. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syac072. ISSN 1063-5157. PMID 36331534.
  5. ↑ "Gomphosus varius summary page". FishBase. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  6. ↑ "BIRD WRASSE / SADDLE WRASSE HYBRID – Gomphosus varius x Thalassoma duperrey – Family Labridae". www.hawaiisfishes.com. hawaiisfishes.com. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Near, Thomas J.; Brownstein, Chase D.; Thacker, Christine E.; Wainwright, Peter C. (2025-10-16). "Phylogenetic Taxonomy of Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Labridae)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 66 (2). doi:10.3374/014.066.0201. ISSN 0079-032X.
  8. ↑ "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes". researcharchive.calacademy.org. Retrieved 2026-08-04.