In the black-barred wrasse the adults are blackish above and have the ventral half of the head, chest and belly white.

The males also have a pale pink chin and long, thin filaments on the lobes of the caudal fin[2] and pink patches on the ventral parts of the head and chest.

[3] This species is frequently confused with the similar Jansen's wrasse (Thalassoma janseni).

Many of their molecular characteristics are the same but they do differ in a single nucleotide of the cytochrome b sequence.

Despite being morphologicallu almost identical, they are each most probably separate and valid species and there may have been confusion over identification in previously stated distributions.