English: Lip-fishes.
German: Lippfische.
Dutch: Lipvissen.
Name: Wrasse comes from the Cornish word wragh, or gwragh, meaning an old woman or hag.
Clade:
Percomorpha.
Genera: 87; ± 630 species; 3 families; 9 subgroups or tribes.
Region: Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Oceans.
Habitat: marine; tropical and subtropical, some temperate waters; in shallow-water, coral reefs, rocky shores.
ZoologyRay-finned fishes.
Size: small, less than 20 cm, up to 250 cm.
Color: brightly colored.
Food: carnivores, small invertebrates; smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish.
Form: protractile mouths; separate jaw teeth that jut outwards; thick lips, the inside curiously folded; nasal and mandibular bones are connected at their posterior ends to the rigid neurocranium; the superior and inferior articulations of the maxilla are joined to the anterior tips of these two bones, creating a loop of four rigid bones connected by moving joints, achieving fast jaw protrusion or a forceful bite.
Fins: dorsal fin has eight to 21 spines and six to 21 soft rays, usually running most of the length of the back.
Reproduction: sexually dimorphic, capable of changing sex; juveniles are a mix of males and females; the largest adults become territory-holding males.
TaxonomySome authors include the
Labriformes as the clade Labroidei within the
Perciformes. Others include more families within the
Labriformes, such as the cichlids and damselfishes
Families • Labridae: Wrasse.
• Odacidae: Cales.
• Scaridae: Parrotfishes.
GeneraLabridae: 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, Labrichthys, Labroides, Labropsis, Labrus, Lachnolaimus, Lappanella, Larabicus, Leptojulis, Macropharyngodon, Malapterus, Minilabrus, Nelabrichthys, Notolabrus, Novaculichthys, Novaculops, Ophthalmolepis, Oxycheilinus, Oxyjulis, Paracheilinus, Parajulis, Pictilabrus, Polylepion, Pseudocheilinops, Pseudocheilinus, Pseudocoris, Pseudodax, Pseudojuloides, Pseudolabrus, Pteragogus, Sagittalarva, Semicossyphus, Stethojulis, Suezichthys, Symphodus, Tautoga, Tautogolabrus, Terelabrus, Thalassoma, Wetmorella, Xenojulis, Xiphocheilus, Xyrichtys.