Common Name: Dusky Wrasse

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: Red Sea south to Mozambique, east to the Tuamoto Islands, southern Japan south to the Austral Islands. In Australia recorded from Shark Bay to north eastern Western Australia, from Torres Strait south through Queensland to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents lagoons and seaward reefs, along the upper edges of coral rich areas. Depth to at least 30 m.

Additional Notes: Brown juveniles and females have two ocelli on dorsal fin, with lighter band at front of tail eventually becoming bright yellow green on colourful males. Juvenile approximately 12 mm long pictured here. Feeds on a variety of small invertebrates and fish eggs. Grows to 18 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.312.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=halichoeres+marginatus. Accessed 30/05/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Halichoeres-marginatus.html. Accessed 30/05/18.