Wrasse

For other uses, see Wrasse (disambiguation).

Wrasses
Moon wrasse, Thalassoma lunare, a typical wrasse
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Suborder: Labroidei
Family: Labridae
G. Cuvier, 1816
Genera

See text.

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.[1][2][3] They are typically small, most of them less than 20 cm (7.9 in) long, although the largest, the humphead wrasse, can measure up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft). They are efficient carnivores, feeding on a wide range of small invertebrates. Many smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish, picking up invertebrates disturbed by their passing.[4] Juveniles of some representatives of the genera Bodianus, Epibulus, Cirrhilabrus, Oxycheilinus, and Paracheilinus hide among the tentacles of the free-living mushroom corals and Heliofungia actiniformis.[5][6]

  1. ^ Parenti, Paolo; Randall, John E. (15 April 2011). "Checklist of the species of the families Labridae and Scaridae: an update". Smithiana Bulletin. 13: 29–44.
  2. ^ Parenti, Paolo; Randall, John E. (June 2000). "An annotated checklist of the species of the labroid fish families Labridae and Scaridae". Ichthyological Bulletin. 68: 1–97. hdl:10962/d1019894. ISSN 0073-4381.
  3. ^ Cowman, P.F.; Bellwood, D.R.; van Herwerden, L. (2009). "Dating the evolutionary origins of wrasse lineages (Labridae) and the rise of trophic novelty on coral reefs". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (3): 621–631. Bibcode:2009MolPE..52..621C. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.015. PMID 19464378.
  4. ^ Choat, J.H.; Bellwood, D.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-12-547665-2.
  5. ^ Bos, Arthur R (2012). "Fishes (Gobiidae and Labridae) associated with the mushroom coralHeliofungia actiniformis (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) in the Philippines". Coral Reefs. 31: 133. Bibcode:2012CorRe..31..133B. doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0834-3.
  6. ^ Bos, AR; Hoeksema, BW (2015). "Cryptobenthic fishes and co-inhabiting shrimps associated with the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis (Fungiidae) in the Davao Gulf, Philippines". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 98 (6): 1479–1489. Bibcode:2015EnvBF..98.1479B. doi:10.1007/s10641-014-0374-0. S2CID 254466578.