Animal Species:Twotone Wrasse, Halichoeres prosopeion (Bleeker, 1853)

Adult Twotone Wrasse are blue on the front half of the body, changing abruptly to yellow posteriorly. The species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West and Central Pacific.

Twotone Wrasse at South West Solitary Island

Twotone Wrasse at South West Solitary Island
Ian Shaw © Ian Shaw

Identification

Adult Twotone Wrasse are blue on the front half of the body, changing abruptly to yellow posteriorly. The dorsal fin is blue at the front with a large dark spot. This colouration does not vary between male and females. Juvenile Twotone Wrasse are white with four black stripes on the body.

Size range

The species grows to 13 cm in length.

Distribution

It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West and Central Pacific, from Indonesia, north to the Philippines, south to Australia and east to the Samoan Islands. In Australia the Twotone Wrasse is known from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland south to the central coast of New South Wales.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Halichoeres prosopeion

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Twotone Wrasse specimens in the Australian Museum.

What does this mean?

Habitat

The Twotone Wrasse is usually seen on coral reefs and outer seaward reef slopes. It can be found at depths of 2 m to 40 m.

Feeding and Diet

Twotone Wrasse feed on small crabs, shrimp, worms and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

Classification

Species:
prosopeion
Genus:
Halichoeres
Family:
Labridae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 220.
  2. Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 222.
  3. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 415.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Twotone Wrasse, Halichoeres prosopeion, Labridae, yellow, green, blue, 'normal fish', 10 cm - 30 cm, two-tone, countershaded, coral reef, marine, adult,