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Five Banded Wrasse
Hemigymnus fasciatus (Bloch, 1792)

A Five Banded Wrasse at a depth of 12m, Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef off Cooktown, Queensland, December 2001. View larger image.

A Five Banded Wrasse at a depth of 13m, Horseshoe Reef, Great Detached Reef, far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, November 2001. View larger image.

Adult Five Banded Wrasse have a darkish body with four narrow white bars on the sides. The head is yellow-green with irregular pink lines. The caudal fin (glossary) is either yellow or black.

Juvenile Five Banded Wrasse look similar to adults, but have a dark head, and the white bars are narrower. The caudal fin is dark.

This species grows to 80cm in length.

Five Banded Wrasse inhabit areas of sand, rubble and coral. It is found in depths from 1m to 40m. Juveniles are more commonly found among branching corals.

Adult Five Banded Wrasse feed on benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, polychaetes, brittle stars, sea urchins and molluscs. Juvenile Five Banded Wrasse feed mainly on planktonic crustaceans.

This species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea, throughout South-east Asia and Micronesia, north to Japan, south to Australia and east to the Ducie Islands.

In Australia it is known from the north-western coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country to the southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

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

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Five Banded Wrasse Hemigymnus fasciatus (Bloch, 1792)

Further reading

Five Banded Wrasse
Hemigymnus fasciatus (Bloch, 1792)