Wrasses

Family Labridae

I don’t have many pictures of wrasses in my collection. They are extremely fast swimmers, gliding through the water with just their pectoral fins. However, I do have a list, mainly from Low and Chou (1992). The wrasses comprise a large number of species, and are usually one of the more abundant (species-wise) on the reef.

More on wrasses at the WildSingapore wrasses page.

Just a note about parrotfishes – apparently they are now considered a sub-family of the labrids (Sub-family Scariniae), but I’m a bit old-school, so I’m going to keep them in their separate family for now 🙂

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Bodianus mesothorax (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Cheilinus chlorourus (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Cheilinus fasciatus (Redbreasted Maori Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)

Cheilinus trilobatus (Tripletail Maori Wrasse)
Sighting at Pulau Satu,u on 9 April 2015. No image yet.

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Choerodon anchorago (Anchor Tuskfish) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Choerodon schoenleinii (Blackspot Tuskfish) (Low and Chou, 1992)

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Epibulus insidator (Slingjaw Wrasse)

Now confirmed! Sightings on 20 March 2015, and again on 9 and 10 April 2015!

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Halichoeres chloropterus (Pastel-green Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Halichoeres hartzfeldii (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Halichoeres margaritaceus (Low and Chou, 1999)
No image.

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Halichoeres melanochir (Black Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)
Spotted at Raffles Lighthouse just this year!

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Halichoeres melanurus (Tailspot Wrasse)** (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image. Recorded as H. hoeveni by Low and Chou (1992), which is a junior synonym to the valid name H. melanurus. It might also be the female of H. purpurescens. H. purpurescens has since been renamed to H. leucurus.

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Halichoeres nigrescens (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image. Recorded as H. dussumieri by Low and Chou (1992), which is a junior synonym to the valid name H. nigrescens. See Fishbase search for Halichoeres dussumieri.

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Halichoeres poecilopterus (Low and Chou, 1999)
No image.

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Halichoeres leucurus (previously H. purpurescens in Lim and Low, 1998)
This species has since been renamed to H. leucurus.

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Halichoeres scapularis (Zigzag Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Halichoeres vrolikii (ref?)**
No image. Could be a mis-identification, as the various phases look similar to H. melanurus.

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Halichoeres sp. (green) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Hemigymnus melapterus (Blackeye Thicklip) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

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Labroides dimidiatus (Striped Cleaner Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)

Was not sighted for many years, but was observed again recently (2014) by Chay Hoon and myself on different occasions at Hantu, Sisters, Kusu and Raffles.

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Ptergogus flagellifera (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image. May have been a misidentification of Cheilinus chlorurus.

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Pterogogus sp. (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image. May have been a misidentification of Cheilinus chlorurus.

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Thalassoma lunare (Moon Wrasse) (Low and Chou, 1992)
No image.

Unconfirmed sightings:

Gomphosus varius (Bird Wrasse)?

**Need confirmation!!