The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them less than long, although the largest, the

humphead wrasse The humphead wrasse (''Cheilinus undulatus'') is a large species of wrasse mainly found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, Napoleon fish, Napoleonfish, ''so mei'' 蘇眉 (Cantonese), ...

, can measure up to . They are efficient carnivores, feeding on a wide range of small

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

. Many smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish, picking up invertebrates disturbed by their passing. Juveniles of some representatives of the genera ''

Bodianus ''Bodianus'' or the hogfishes is a genus of fish in the family Labridae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. These species have many parasites. Species There are currently 45 recognized species in this genus: * '' Bodianus albotaen ...

'', ''

Epibulus ''Epibulus'' is a genus of wrasses native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Souther ...

'', ''

Cirrhilabrus ''Cirrhilabrus'' is a genus of fish in the family Labridae native to reefs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, commonly kept in aquaria. Species There are currently 60 recognized species in this genus: * '' Cirrhilabrus adornatus'' J. E. Randal ...

'', ''

Oxycheilinus ''Oxycheilinus'' is a genus of fish in the family Labridae found in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 10 recognized species in this genus: * '' Oxycheilinus arenatus'' (Valenciennes, 1840) (Speckled maori wrasse) * '' O ...

'', and ''

Paracheilinus ''Paracheilinus'' is a genus of flasher wrasses, native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north t ...

'' hide among the tentacles of the free-living mushroom corals & ''

Heliofungia actiniformis ''Heliofungia actiniformis'' is a solitary species of mushroom coral, a large polyp stony coral in the family Fungiidae. This coral is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region. It is a zooxanthellate species. It is a popular coral in t ...

''. The word "wrasse" comes from the Cornish word ''wragh'', a lenited form of ''gwragh'', meaning an old woman or hag, via

Cornish dialect The Cornish dialect (also known as Cornish English, Cornu-English, kw, Sowsnek Kernowek) is a dialect of English spoken in Cornwall by Cornish people. Dialectal English spoken in Cornwall is to some extent influenced by Cornish grammar, and o ...

''wrath''. It is related to the Welsh ''gwrach'' and Breton ''gwrac'h''.

Distribution

Most wrasses inhabit the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic,

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, and Pacific Oceans, though some species live in temperate waters: the

Ballan wrasse The ballan wrasse (''Labrus bergylta'') is a species of marine ray finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, where it inhabits rocky areas. Like many wrasse species, it is a protogynous hermap ...

is found as far north as Norway. Wrasses are usually found 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. Many species can be readily recognized by their thick lips, the inside of which is sometimes curiously folded, a peculiarity which gave rise to the German name of "lip-fishes" (''Lippfische''), and the Dutch name of ''lipvissen''. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through co ...

has eight to 21 spines and six to 21 soft rays, usually running most of the length of the back. Wrasses are sexually dimorphic. Many species are capable of changing sex. Juveniles are a mix of males and females (known as initial-phase individuals), but the largest adults become territory-holding (terminal-phase) males. The wrasses have become a primary study species in fish-feeding

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

due to their jaw structures. The nasal and

mandibular In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

bones are connected at their posterior ends to the rigid

neurocranium In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, or brain-pan is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calvaria or skul ...

, and the superior and inferior articulations of the maxilla are joined to the anterior tips of these two bones, respectively, creating a loop of four rigid bones connected by moving joints. This " four-bar linkage" has the property of allowing numerous arrangements to achieve a given mechanical result (fast

jaw protrusion Most bony fishes have two sets of jaws made mainly of bone. The primary oral jaws open and close the mouth, and a second set of pharyngeal jaws are positioned at the back of the throat. The oral jaws are used to capture and manipulate prey by b ...

or a forceful bite), thus decoupling

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

from function. The actual morphology of wrasses reflects this, with many lineages displaying different jaw morphology that results in the same functional output in a similar or identical ecological niche.

Reproductive behavior

Most labrids are

protogynous Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

s within a haremic mating system. A good example of this reproductive behavior is seen in the

California sheephead The California sheephead (''Semicossyphus pulcher'') is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Monterey Bay, California, to the Gulf of California, Mexico. It can live for up to 20 years in favorable condition ...

. Hermaphroditism allows for complex mating systems. Labroids exhibit three different mating systems: polygynous, lek-like, and

promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

. Group spawning and pair spawning occur within mating systems. The type of spawning that occurs depends on male body size. Labroids typically exhibit

broadcast spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

, releasing high numbers of planktonic eggs, which are broadcast by tidal currents; adult labroids have no interaction with offspring. Wrasses of a particular subgroup of the family Labridae, Labrini, do not exhibit broadcast spawning. Sex change in wrasses is generally female-to-male, but experimental conditions have allowed for male-to-female sex change. Placing two male ''Labroides dimidiatus'' wrasses in the same tank results in the smaller of the two becoming female again. Additionally, while the individual to change sex is generally the largest female, evidence also exists of the largest female instead "choosing" to remain female in situations in which she can maximize her evolutionary fitness by refraining from changing sex.

Broodcare behavior of the tribe

The subgroup Labrini arose from a basal split within family Labridae during the Eocene period. Subgroup Labrini is composed of eight genera, wherein 15 of 23 species exhibit broodcare behavior, which ranges from simple to complex parental care of spawn; males build algae nests or crude cavities, ventilate eggs, and defend nests against

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

males and predators. In species that express this behavior, eggs cannot survive without parental care. Species of ''

Symphodus ''Symphodus'' is a genus of wrasses native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Symphodus bailloni'' (Valenciennes, 1839) (Baillon's wrasse) * '' Symphodus caer ...

, Centrolabrus'', and ''

Labrus ''Labrus'' is a genus of wrasses native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean and Black seas. Species The four currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Labrus bergylta'' Ascanius, 1767 (Ballan wrasse) * '' Labrus merul ...

'' genera exhibit broodcare behavior.

Cleaner wrasse

Cleaner wrasses are the best-known of the

cleaner fish Cleaner fish are fish that show a specialist feeding strategy by providing a service to other species, referred to as clients, by removing dead skin, ectoparasites, and infected tissue from the surface or gill chambers. This example of cleaning ...

. They live in a

cleaning symbiosis Cleaning symbiosis is a mutually beneficial association between individuals of two species, where one (the cleaner) removes and eats parasites and other materials from the surface of the other (the client). Cleaning symbiosis is well-known amon ...

with larger, often predatory, fish, grooming them and benefiting by consuming what they remove. "Client" fish congregate at wrasse "

cleaning station A cleaning station is a location where aquatic life congregate to be cleaned by smaller creatures. Such stations exist in both freshwater and marine environments, and are used by animals including fish, sea turtles and hippos, referred to as cli ...

s" and wait for the cleaner fish to remove gnathiid parasites, the cleaners even swimming into their open mouths and gill cavities to do so. A single wrasse works for around four hours a day, and in that time, it can inspect more than 2,000 clients."The Fish That Makes Other Fish Smarter"
by

Ed Yong Edmund Soon-Weng Yong (born 17 December 1981) is a British-American science journalist. He is a staff member at ''The Atlantic'', which he joined in 2015. In 2021 he received a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series on the COVID- ...

, ''The Atlantic'', March 7, 2018 Cleaner wrasses are best known for feeding on dead tissue, scales, and

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s, although they are also known to '

cheat Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...

', consuming healthy tissue and mucus, which is energetically costly for the client fish to produce. The

bluestreak cleaner wrasse The bluestreak cleaner wrasse, ''Labroides dimidiatus'', is one of several species of cleaner wrasses found on coral reefs from Eastern Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia. Like other cleaner wrasses, it eats parasites and dead tissue of ...

, ''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 parasite removal is more important for predator survival than the short-term gain of eating the cleaner. When cleaner wrasses were experimentally removed from a reef in Australia, the total number of fish species halved, and their numbers fell by three-quarters. Also, some evidence, from another Australian study, shows that cleaned fish are smarter than those not served by the wrasse. According to a 2019 study, cleaner wrasses have become the first fish ever observed to pass the

mirror test The mirror test—sometimes called the mark test, mirror self-recognition (MSR) test, red spot technique, or rouge test—is a behavioral technique developed in 1970 by American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. as an attempt to determine whether a ...

. However, the test's inventor, American psychologist Gordon G. Gallup, has said that the fish were most likely trying to scrape off a perceived parasite on another fish and that they did not demonstrate self-recognition. The authors of the study retorted that because the fish checked themselves in the mirror before and after the scraping, this meant that the fish had self-awareness and recognized that their reflections belonged to their own bodies.

Tool use

Studies show that some wrasse species are capable of

tool use Tool use by animals is a phenomenon in which an animal uses any kind of tool in order to achieve a goal such as acquiring food and water, grooming, defence, communication, recreation or construction. Originally thought to be a skill possessed o ...

, using rocks to smash open sea urchins.

Significance to humans

In the Western Atlantic coastal region of North America, the most common food species for indigenous humans was the

tautog The tautog (''Tautoga onitis''), also known as the blackfish, is a species of wrasse native to the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to South Carolina. This species inhabits hard substrate habitats in inshore waters at depths from . It is ...

, a species of wrasse. Wrasses today are commonly found in both public and home aquaria. Some species are small enough to be considered

reef safe Reef safe is a distinction used in the saltwater aquarium hobby to indicate that a fish or invertebrate is safe to add to a reef aquarium. There is no fish that is completely reef safe. Every fish that is commonly listed as reef safe are species th ...

. They may also be employed as cleaner fish to combat sea-lice infestations in salmon farms. Commercial fish farming of cleaner wrasse for sea-lice pest control in commercial salmon farming has developed in Scotlan
as lice busters
with apparent commercial benefit and viability.

Parasites

As all fish, labrids are the

hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *Michel Host ...

of a number of

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

. A list of 338 parasite taxa from 127 labrid fish species was provided by Muñoz and Diaz in 2015.Muñoz G., Diaz P.E. 2015: Checklist of parasites of labrid fishes (Pisces: Labridae). Viña del Mar, Chile
PDF
An example is the

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

Huffmanela ossicola ''Huffmanela ossicola'' is a parasitic nematode. It has been observed in the branchial arch bone and the spinal cord bone (as well as others) of the labrid marine fishes '' Bodianus loxozonus'', '' Bodianus busellatus'' and '' Bodianus perdit ...

''.

Gallery

Image:Giant Napoleon Wrasse in Shark Point Dive Site, Apo Reef, Philippines.jpg, Giant Napoleon wrasse '' Cheilinus undulatus'' in

Apo Reef Apo Reef is a coral reef system in the Philippines situated in the western waters of Occidental Mindoro province in the Mindoro Strait. Encompassing , it is considered the world's second-largest contiguous coral reef system, and is the largest in ...

, Philippines Image:Humphead wrasse melb aquarium.jpg, Humphead wrasse, '' Cheilinus undulatus'', Melbourne Aquarium Image:Coris gaimard real.jpg, Yellowtail wrasse, '' Coris gaimard'', Hawaii Image:Coris_gaimard_and_Labroides_phthirophagus.JPG, A yellowtail coris wrasse, ''Coris gaimard'', is being cleaned by '' Labroides phthirophagus'' in Hawaii. Image:Bird Wrasse.jpg, Bird wrasse, ''

Gomphosus varius The bird wrasse, ''Gomphosus varius'', is a species of the wrasse family. Description The bird wrasse is a medium-sized fish which can reach a standard length of . It has an elongated body, laterally compressed, with a truncated tail and a long ...

'', Kona (Hawaii) Image:Gomphosus.jpg, ''

'' Image:Birdmouth wrasse.jpg, '' Gomphosus caeruleus'' swimming with a

yellow goatfish The yellow goatfish (''Mulloidichthys martinicus''), also known as yellowsaddle, is a species of goatfish native to the Atlantic Ocean around the coasts of Africa and the Americas. This species can reach a total length of , but most reach length ...

Image:Bluhead Wrasse.jpg, Bluehead wrasse,

Belize Barrier Reef The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits. The Belize Barrier Reef is a long section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, ...

Image:Clown wrasse coris aygula.JPG, Clown wrasse, '' Coris aygula'', Red Sea Image:Anampses cuvieri.jpg, Pearl wrasse, '' Anampses cuvieri'', Hawaii Image:Ladim u0.gif, Bluestreak wrasse, '' Labroides dimidiatus'' Image:Six-line wrasse.jpg, Six-line wrasse '', Pseudocheilinus hexataenia'' File:A history of Scandinavian fishes (9661319663).jpg, Cuckoo wrasse by

Wilhelm von Wright Wilhelm von Wright (5 April 1810 – 2 July 1887) was a Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-Finnish painter and amateur naturalist. Biography Wilhelm von Wright was born at the village of Haminalahti in Kuopio, Finland. His ance ...

Classification

Subgroups and tribes

Genera

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-65.5 till:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligocene from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text: Miocene from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

Pleist. The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text: Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text: Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:eocene bar:NAM1 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Labrodon color:eocene bar:NAM2 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

color:eocene bar:NAM3 from: -48.6 till: 0 text:

color:oligocene bar:NAM4 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Cheilinus color:miocene bar:NAM5 from: -15.97 till: 0 text:

color:pliocene bar:NAM6 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Oxyjulis color:pleistocene bar:NAM7 from: -2.588 till: 0 text: Pimelometopon PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligocene from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text: Miocene from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:era from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text: Paleogene from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text: Neogene from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

References

External links

FishBase info for Labridae

Male and Female Images or Rock Wrasse Fish
* Smith, J.L.B. 1957
List of the fishes of the Family Labridae in the Western Indian Ocean
Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 7. Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. * {{Authority control Labriformes Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Articles which contain graphical timelines