This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries, is popular as a game fish, and can be found in the aquarium trade.

[2] It has a rather deep, laterally compressed body and a pair of caniniform teeth in the front of its bottom jaw.

[4] The surge wrasse has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution which extends marginally into the south-eastern Atlantic along the coast of South Africa.

[2] The surge wrasse was first formally described as Scarus purpureus in 1775 by the Swedish explorer, orientalist and naturalist Peter Forsskål (1732-1763) who gave the type locality as Jeddah.

[5] When William Swainson was describing the genus Thalassoma in 1839 he designated Scarus purpureus as its type species.