Common Name: Sharpnose Wrasse

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from the Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian and Easter islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded from Perth in Western Australia, across the tropical north, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to Jervis Bay in New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents seagrass areas and algal flats on inshore reefs and in lagoons. Depth to 30 m.

Additional Notes: Large males usually blue-grey and may develop a large black, white, or coloured blotch on the side behind the pectoral fin. Occasionally may be all yellow. Juveniles mottled green or brown, often with broad lateral stripe. Slender body with a longer snout than similarly-shaped Hologymnosus spp. Adults usually solitary, juveniles in seagrass or algal areas. Grows to 50 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p. 293.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Cheilio+inermis. Accessed 25/07/2022

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://www.fishbase.ca/summary/Cheilio-inermis.html. Accessed 25/07/2022.