Knife Wrasse

Cymolutes praetextatus is a pale coloured wrasse which has steep profile to its head. The flanks are marked with indistinct whitish bars and there is a white stripe along its back which sits above a wide, yellowish or darker coloured stripe, although this may not be present. This species has 9-10 spines in its dorsal fin which also has 12-13 soft rays while the anal fin has 2-3 spines and 11-12 soft rays. The largest males grow to a standard length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in).

Cymolutes praetextatus is an Indo-Pacific species which is found from the eastern coast of Africa through the Indian Ocean and into the Pacific Ocean as far as the Society Islands, the Line Islands and Hawaii. In Australian waters it occurs at Ningaloo Reef, Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef in Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, it also occurs around Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

This species is rarely caught by fisheries and does not appear often in the aquarium trade.