Common Name: Ringed Slender Wrasse

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from South Africa and the Red Sea to the Society and Pitcairn Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rapa and Lord Howe Islands. In Australia recorded from north of Exmouth in Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coral and rocky reefs, offshore slopes. Depth to 40 m.

Additional Notes: Adult male, not pictured, light green with narrow dark vertical stripes on elongate body. Juveniles black with broad yellowish stripe from snout along upper body to tail base and thin dark stripe from head along base of dorsal fin. Feeds on small fish and crustaceans. Juvenile shown in top photograph, intermediate phase in bottom photograph. Grows to 40 cms. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.318.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=hologymnosus+annulatus. Accessed 01/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Hologymnosus-annulatus.html. Accessed 01/06/18.