Australian Wrasses

[Shadowkiller]

Here in the temperate southern Australian waters the fish of family Labridae make up a large portion of the species found.

I thought I'd post a few pics of some of the more common ones.

Luculentus Wrasse (pic 1)- generally found deepish, 10-20m. A very difficult fish to get near, although one idividual always follows me around like a little puppy.

Crimson-banded Wrasse (pic 2 female, pic 3 male)- grows to about 40cm, the larger colourful male keeps a harem of females. Very shallow water usually.

Blue Groper (pic 4) - misnamed wrasse species, its the largest wrasse in Australian waters. The males are iridescent blue, the females brown or green. Loves being handfed by divers!

Blue-throat Wrasse (pic 5)- A southern species, usually not even found as far north as Sydney. Very inquisitive, very quick to turn, twist and generally make photography a pain in the butt.

 

[Shadowkiller]

Maori Wrasse (pic 1, pic 2) - so called because of the facial marking, they are one of the most common species. Very quick to rush in for a free feed of seairchin or fish burley.

Senator Wrasse (pic 3) - named after a senator? Not sure, but these fish don't seem to be that corrupt... rofl

Gunthers Wrasse (pic 4)- Another deep water, shy species that really gets attached to divers who dont try to eat it! The large males are very colourful and will attack the camera lens if they see their reflection.

Painted Rainbow Wrasse (pic 5)- Very small species, and very secretive. After diving the same areas for over 9 years I first found this species about a year ago. Even now I only rarely catch them out in the open.

 

[island_sands]

Maori Wrasse (pic 1, pic 2) - so called because of the facial marking, they are one of the most common species. Very quick to rush in for a free feed of seairchin or fish burley.

good stuff Shadow! I have also heard the Maori wrasse described for what we know in Asia as the Napolean wrasse (humphead wrasse)
and people think we are pedantic when we use the biological names!! its really the only way to properly identify a fish.. the common names vary from place to place... drives me crazy!

for example, a black-tip shark. What does that mean to you? (species wise)

 

[Adrian]

Nice wrasses and photos Shadow! Here in Spain we have lots of them, some as colorful as yours but nowhere as large. Same extreme coloration differences between the males and females in some species.

Luckily fishbase.org has a good selection of international local names tied to the same species of fish or it would be a real headache.

Adrian

 

[island_sands]

Nice wrasses and photos Shadow! Here in Spain we have lots of them, some as colorful as yours but nowhere as large. Same extreme coloration differences between the males and females in some species.

Luckily fishbase.org has a good selection of international local names tied to the same species of fish or it would be a real headache.

Adrian

thanks for the tip Ad!