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BIRD WRASSE FACTS |
Description
The Bird Wrasse has a long snout that looks a bit like a bird's beak. Juvenile Bird Wrasse are green above and white below with two black stripes along the body. Their snout is shorter than in adults. As the juvenile grows, it becomes white with a black spot on each scale giving the fish a speckled appearance. The top of the snout is orange, and the tail is black with white border. Adult Bird Wrasse are blue-green with a red line on each scale. The tail has a bright blue crescent.
Size
length to 30cm
Habitat
Found in coral lagoons and seaward reefs to depth of at least 30 m
Food
Feeds on small crustaceans, small fishes, brittle stars, mollusks
Range
The Bird Wrasse is found in marine waters of the West-Central Pacific, from the Cocos-Keeling Islands, throughout South-east Asia and Micronesia, north to Japan, south to Australia. In Australia it is found from north-western coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the southern Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
Classification
| Class: | Actinopterygii | | Order: | Perciformes | | Family: | Labridae | | Genus: | Gomphosus | | Species: | varius | | Common Name: | Bird Wrasse |
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