Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 8 spines and 13 rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 11 rays. Pectoral fin with 15-16 (usually 15) rays. Body depth 3.3-3.9 in standard length. Caudal fin truncate in juveniles to slightly emarginate in initial phase and very lunate in large terminal males.
Colour: Ground colour cream, varying from yellow above to white below. Six broad rhomboidal blackish bands dorsally.
Habitat and Biology: Common on reef flats at depths of a metre or less.
Distribution: Maldives to Indonesia.
Remarks: Thalassoma jansenii is not particularly common in the Maldives. Unlike many other wrasses of the genus it maintains the same basic colour pattern throughout its life. However, it has a different colour form in the Western Pacific.