Common Name: Choat’s Wrasse

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed in the Western Pacific region: Australia. In Australia recorded from the east coast, from around Cairns in Queensland south through the Great Barrier Reef to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents offshore islands, channels and seaward reefs. Depth to 30 m.

Additional Notes: Distinctly coloured, all life phases whitish body with orange blotches or irregular bands. Yellow edged dark patch on operculum behind eye. Adults solitary, small juveniles sometimes school with other wrasse species. Juvenile in top photograph, adult in lower photograph. Grows to 10 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.323.

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

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