caeruleus, Gomphosus Lacepède [B. G. E.] (ex Commerson) 1801:100, 101, Pl. 5 (fig. 1) [Histoire naturelle des poissons (Lacepède) v. 3; ref. 2710] No locality stated (is Mauritius, Mascarenes, southwestern Indian Ocean). Syntypes: MNHN B-2134 (2, dry), B-2135 (1, dry), B-8237 (1). Type catalog: Bauchot 1963:42 [ref. 19171]. Based on 'Elops, totus intense caeruleus; rostro subulato, capite et operculis branchiostegis, alepidotis' in description and illustration in manuscript by Commerson (Philibert Commerson, 1727-1773, French explorer and naturalist). Also appeared in Sonnini 1803:108, 109 (vol. 8) [ref. 30473]. •Valid as Gomphosus caeruleus Lacepède 1801 -- (Dor 1984:201 [ref. 29757] as coeruleus, Randall 1986:693 [ref. 5706], Winterbottom et al. 1989:53 [ref. 13251], Randall et al. 1990:316 [ref. 15987], Goren & Dor 1994:54 [ref. 25356], Randall 1995:277 [ref. 22896], Fricke 1999:411 [ref. 24106], Parenti & Randall 2000:18 [ref. 24943], Allen & Adrim 2003:49 [ref. 26830], Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003:S114 [ref. 27377] as a subspecies, Bernardi et al. 2004:371 [ref. 27454] as caerulaeus, Heemstra et al. 2004:3325 [ref. 27945], Heemstra & Heemstra 2004:343 [ref. 28072], Randall 2005:410 [ref. 28239], Randall 2007:337 [ref. 30952], Fricke et al. 2009:85 [ref. 30213], Satapoomin 2009:221 [ref. 30463], Kuiter 2010:210 [ref. 35285], Allen & Erdmann 2012:666 [ref. 31980], Fricke et al. 2018:282 [ref. 35805], Arndt & Fricke 2019:19 [ref. 36883], Zajonz et al. 2019:89 [ref. 36871], Randall & Victor 2022:198 [ref. 39916] with subspecies, Noushad K. et al. 2024:45 [ref. 40947]). Current status: Valid as Gomphosus caeruleus Lacepède 1801. Labridae. Distribution: Indian Ocean: Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), East Africa, Socotra (Yenen), Madagascar and Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues) east to Andaman Sea and western Indonesia. Habitat: marine.