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Biocellate Wrasse
Halichoeres biocellatus Schultz, 1960
A Biocellate Wrasse at a depth of 21 m, North Solitary Island, New South Wales, January 2003. Photo © I. Shaw. View larger image.
Female Biocellate Wrasse are green with orange stripes anteriorly that break into spots on the rear of the body. They have two distinctive ocelli on the dorsal fin.
Mature males have reddish stripes along the body and a U-shaped mark on the caudal peduncle. They have no ocelli in the dorsal fin.
The Biocellate Wrasse grows to 12 cm in length.
It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Western Pacific.
In Australia it is known from north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland south to the southern coast of New South Wales.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
View the Biocellate Wrasse collected in the Reef Island Group during the Solomon Islands Expedition.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2002. Fairy and Rainbow Wrasses and their Relatives. A Comprehensive Guide to Selected Labroids. TMC Publishing. Pp. 208.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
