The clown coris (''Coris aygula''), also known as the clown wrasse, false clownwrasse, humphead wrasse, hump-headed wrasse, red-blotched rainbowfish or twinspot wrasse, is a species of

wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine ray-finned fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into nine subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, ...

native to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Description

This

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

can reach a

total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

length of . A marked difference in appearance is noted between juveniles and adults; juveniles are white and orange with false eyes on the dorsal fin, while adults are uniformly dark green or with light banding and developing a prominent forehead.

Habitat

''C. aygula'' is an inhabitant of

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...

where they prefer areas of sand or rubble at depths from . They are generally solitary as adults, while juveniles can often be found in

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only ...

Distribution

This species can be found from the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n coast eastward to the

Line Islands The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands () are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons, except Vostok and Jarvis) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...

and

Ducie Island Ducie Island (; ) is an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Islands group, which also includes Pitcairn, Henderson and Oeno islands. Ducie lies east of Pitcairn Island, and east of Henderson Island, and has a total area of , which includes t ...

and from southern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

Gallery

File:Clown Coris, shaab sharm, Marsa Alam, Qesm Marsa Alam, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt imported from iNaturalist photo 29987121.jpg, Juvenile File:Initial phase of clown coris at Shelenyat Reef, Red Sea, Egypt -SCUBA -UNDERWATER -PICTURES (6487872025).jpg, Transitioning from juvenile to adult female colours File:Coris Napoleón de manchas rojas (Coris aygula), mar Rojo, Egipto, 2023-04-14, DD 42.jpg, Female File:Coris Napoleón de manchas rojas (Coris aygula), mar Rojo, Egipto, 2023-04-17, DD 101.jpg, Male

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clown Coris Coris (fish) Fish of the Red Sea Fish described in 1801