Wrasse Totally Explained

Everything about Labridae totally explained

ť For other uses, see Wrasse (disambiguation).

The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with about 500 species in 60 genera.

Distribution

Wrasses are exclusively marine in distribution. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, usually in shallow water habitats such as coral reefs and rocky shores where they live close to the substrate.

Anatomy

Wrasses have protractile mouths, usually with separate jaw teeth that jut outwards. The dorsal fin has 8–21 spines and 6–21 soft rays, usually running most of the length of the back. Wrasse are typically brightly coloured and sexually dimorphic. Many species are capable of changing sex: juveniles are a mix of males and females (known as Initial Phase or IP individuals) but the largest adults becoming territory-holding (Terminal Phase or TP) males.

Cleaner wrasse

Some wrasses are widely known for their role as symbiotic fish, similar to the actions and those ascribed to the Egyptian plover: other fish will congregate at wrasse cleaning stations and wait for wrasses to swim into their open mouths and gill cavities to have gnathiid parasites removed. The cleaner wrasses are best known for feeding on dead tissue and scales and ectoparasites, although they're also known to 'cheat' through the removal of healthy tissue and mucus, which is costly for the client fish to produce. The bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus is one of the most common cleaners found on tropical reefs. Few cleaner wrasses have been observed being eaten by predators, possibly because the removal of parasites from the predator fish is more important for the survival of the predator than the short-term gain of eating the cleaner (see Trivers, R. L. 1971).
Other species of wrasse, rather than having fixed cleaning stations, specialize in making "house calls"—that is, their "clientele" are those fish that are too territorial or shy to go to a cleaning station.

Significance to humans

Wrasse are utilised as food in many parts of the world. In the western Atlantic, the most commonly eaten is the tautog. Wrasse are widely kept in both public and home aquaria, with some species being small enough to be considered reef safe. Image:Bird Wrasse.jpg|Gomphosus varius in Kona Image:Coris_gaimard_and_Labroides_phthirophagus.JPG|Yellowtail Coris Wrasse, Coris gaimardi is being cleaned by Labroides phthirophagus. The picture was taken in Hawaii Image:Bluhead Wrasse.jpg|Bluehead wrasse, Belize Barrier Reef Image:Clown wrasse coris aygula.JPG|Clown wrasse, Coris aygula, Red Sea Image:Coris gaimard real.jpg|Yellowtail wrasse, Coris gaimard, Hawaii Image:Anampses cuvieri.jpg|Pearl wrasse, Anampses cuvieri, Hawaii Image:Humphead wrasse melb aquarium.jpg|Humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus, Melbourne Aquarium Image:Ladim u0.gif|Bluestreak wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus

Genera

Acantholabrus
Achoerodus
Ammolabrus
Anampses
Anchichoerops
Austrolabrus
Bodianus
Centrolabrus
Cheilinus
Cheilio
Choerodon
Cirrhilabrus
Clepticus
Conniella
Coris
Ctenolabrus
Cymolutes
Decodon
Diproctacanthus
Doratonotus
Dotalabrus
Epibulus
Eupetrichthys
Frontilabrus
Gomphosus
Halichoeres
Hemigymnus
Hologymnosus
Iniistius
Julichthys
Labrichthys
Labroides
Labropsis
Labrus
Lachnolaimus
Lappanella
Larabicus
Leptojulis
Macropharyngodon
Malapterus
Minilabrus
Nelabrichthys
Notolabrus
Novaculichthys
Novaculoides
Ophthalmolepis
Oxycheilinus
Oxyjulis
Paracheilinus
Parajulis
Pictilabrus
Polylepion
Pseudocheilinops
Pseudocheilinus
Pseudocoris
Pseudodax
Pseudojuloides
Pseudolabrus
Pteragogus
Semicossyphus
Stethojulis
Suezichthys
Symphodus
Tautoga
Tautogolabrus
Terelabrus
Thalassoma
Wetmorella
Xenojulis
Xiphocheilus
Xyrichtys

Further Information

Get more info on 'Labridae'.

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