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Batu Coris
Coris batuensis (Bleeker, 1857)

A male Batu Coris at a depth of 5m, Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef off Cooktown, Queensland, December 2001. View larger image. In the background is a Speckled Butterflyfish (view fact sheet).

The Batu Coris can be recognised by its colouration, which varies as the fish grows.

Juveniles are olive-green above and white below. They have bright orange spots on the head and belly. There is a dark brown stripe from the mouth to the eye. A series of narrow white bars extend from the dorsal fin onto the top of the body and there are three black ocelli (glossary) on the front, middle and rear of the dorsal fin.

Female Batu Coris have a grey-greenish body and irregular blackish bars on the back. There are irregular pink bars on the face, a vertical elongate black spot behind the eye and a black bar on the pectoral fin base. They also have three black ocelli on the dorsal fin.

Males are similar to the females, but have a greener body and may lose some of the ocelli in the dorsal fin.

This species grows to 17cm in length.

The Batu Coris inhabits sandy areas of coral reefs and protected lagoons. This fish is usually found at depths of 1m to 34m.

It feeds on crabs and gastropods.

The Batu Coris occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the Maldives, north to Japan, throughout Micronesia, south to Australia and east to Tonga.

In Australia the Batu Coris is known from the north-western coast of Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland to the northern coast of New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 220.
2. Kuiter, R.H. 2002. Fairy and Rainbow Wrasses and their Relatives. A Comprehensive Guide to Selected Labroids. TMC Publishing. Pp. 208.
3. Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 222.
4. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 415.
5. Randall, J.E., 1999. Revision of the Indo-Pacific labrid fishes of the genus Coris, with descriptions of five new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes (29):74.