List of fishes of the Coral Sea

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Coral Sea as follows: On the North. The South coast of New Guinea from the entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E) to Gado-Gadoa Island near its Southeastern extreme (), down this meridian to the 100 fathom line and thence along the Southern edges of Uluma (Suckling) Reef and those extending to the Eastward as far as the Southeast point of Lawik Reef () off Tagula Island [Vanatinai], thence a line to the Southern extreme of Rennell Island and from its Eastern point to Cape Surville, the Eastern extreme of San Cristobal Island [Makira], Solomons; thence through Nupani, the Northwestern of the Santa Cruz Islands () to the Northernmost Island of the Duff or Wilson Group (). On the Northeast. From the Northernmost island of the Duff or Wilson Group through these islands to their Southeastern extreme, thence a line to Mera Lava, New Hebrides Islands [Vanuatu] () and down the Eastern coasts of the islands of this Group to Aneityum Island () in such a way that all the islands of these Groups, and the straits separating them, are included in the Coral Sea. On the Southeast. A line from the Southeastern extreme of Aneityum Island to Southeast (Nokanhui) Islets () off the Southeast extreme of New Caledonia, thence through the East point of Middleton Reef to the Eastern extreme of Elizabeth Reef () and down this meridian to Latitude 30° South. On the South. The parallel of 30° South to the Australian coast. On the West. The eastern limit of the Arafura Sea [The entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E), and thence a line to the northwest extreme of York Peninsula, Australia ()] and the East Coast of Australia as far south as Latitude 30° South. ==Class Chondrichthyes==

===Order Hexanchiformes=== Family Hexanchidae - six and sevengill sharks • Bluntnose sixgill shark, Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) (worldwide in tropical and temperate seas) syn. Rhinobatos batillum Whitley, 1939 ((as R. batillum) Northern Australia between Shark Bay, Western Australia and the Capricorn group, occasionally near sand cays on the Great Barrier Reef) ===Order Myliobatiformes=== Family Dasyatidae – stingrays • Kuhl's stingray, Dasyatis kuhlii (Mueller & Henle, 1841) (East Africa and Red Sea to Samoa and north to Japan) • Blue-spotted stingray, Taeniura lymma (Forsskal, 1775) (East Africa to western Pacific and Great Barrier Reef) • Black-blotched stingray, Taeniura meyeni Mueller & Henle, 1841 (Indo-Pacific) • Thorny ray, Urogymnus africanus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (East Africa to Northern Australia and the Marshall Islands) Family Myliobatidae – eagle rays • Spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari (Euphrasen, 1790) (cosmopolitan in tropical to warm temperate seas) Family Mobulidae - mantas and devil rays • Manta, Manta birostris (Donndorff, 1798) (circumtropical) • Devil ray, Mobula tarapacana (Philippi, 1892) (Indo-Pacific and eastern Atlantic, possibly circumtropical) ==Class Osteichthyes==

===Order Albuliformes=== Family Albulidae - bonefishes • Pacific bonefish, Albula argentea (Forster & Bloch in Schneider, 1801) (Indo-Pacific) syn. Siderea thyrsoidea (Richardson, 1845) ((as S. thyrsoidea) central and western Pacific) syn. Apogon timorensis ((as A. timorensis) East Africa and the Red Sea to Northern Australia and north to Japan) syn. Apogon guamensis Valenciennes, 1832 ((as A. guamensis) East Africa and Red Sea to Samoa) syn. Apogon novemfasciatus ((as A. novemfasciatus) Cocos-Keeling Islands to Samoa and north to the Izu Islands) syn. Apogon properupta ((as A. properupta) Queensland and the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef south to Montague Island, New South Wales) syn. Apogon taeniophorus ((as A. taeniophorus) Mauritius to Polynesia) syn. Apogon talboti Smith, 1961 ((as A. talboti) Indo-Pacific) syn. Apogon kallopterus Bleeker, 1856 ((as A. kallopterus) East Africa and Red Sea to Polynesia) syn. Absalom radiatus (Macleay, 1881) ((as A. radiatus) Indonesia and Northern Australia) syn. Gerres acinaces Bleeker, 1854 ((as G. acinaces) East Africa and Red Sea to Samoa) syn. Scolopsis cancellatus (Cocos-Keeling Islands to Polynesia) (Malay Peninsula to Melanesia and Northern Australia) (western Pacific to Samoa) syn. Parupeneus bifasciatus (Lacepede, 1801) ((as P. bifasciatus) Indo-Pacific) syn. Platax novemaculatus ((as P. novemaculatus) Northern Australia and southern New Guinea) (northern Great Barrier Reef to Samoa) (Cocos-Leeling Islands to southeastern Oceania and north to the Ryukyu Islands) syn. C. flammeus (Oceanic coral reefs from Queensland to Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands) (Cocos-Keeling Islands to Society Islands) syn. S. bleekeri ((as S. bleekeri) western Pacific to Fiji and the islands of Micronesia) syn. Scarus forsteri (Bleeker, 1861) ((as S. forsteri) western Pacific to Micronesia and Pitcairn group) syn. Limnichthys donaldsoni (as L. donaldsoni) • Black blenny, Enchelyurus ater (Guenther, 1877) (southern Oceania from the Coral Sea to the Tuamotu Archipelago, but not the Great Barrier Reef) • Brown coral blenny, Atrosalarias fuscus (Rueppell, 1835) (Indo-Pacific) (East Africa to Samoa and islands of Micronesia) (East Africa and the Red Sea to Hawaiian Islands and Tuamotus) syn. Coryphopterus neophytus ((as C. neophytus) East Africa to the Tuamotus) syn. Gnatholepis scapulostigma Herre, 1953 ((as G. scapulostigma) eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific) syn. Gunnellichthys monostigmata Smith, 1958 ((as G. monostigmata) Indo-Pacific) syn. Ellochelon vaigensis ((as E. vaigensis) East Africa and the Red Sea to the Tuamotus) ===Order Pleuronectiformes=== Family Bothidae - lefteye flounders Family Pleuronectidae – righteye flounders ===Order Tetraodontiformes=== Family Balistidae Family Monacanthidae – leatherjackets, filefishes • Fanbelly leatherjacket, Monacanthus chinensis (Osbeck, 1765) (tropical Australia south to Geographe Bay, Western Australia, and to Western Port, Victoria - also widespread in the Indo-West Pacific region) Family Ostraciidae – boxfishes, cowfishes, trunkfishes • Humpback turretfish, Tetrosomus gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758) (tropical Australia south to Albany, Western Australia, and to Cape Conran, Victoria - also widespread in the Indo-West Pacific region) Family Tetraodontidae – toadfishes, pufferfishes Family Diodontidae – porcupine fishes Unallocated species (Perciformes) Family Chironemidae • Silver spot, Chironemus maculosus (Richardson, 1850) syn. Threpterius maculosus ==References==