Common Name: Little Maori Wrasse

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: East Africa to the Hawaiian and Marquesan Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Vanuatu. In Australia recorded from Torres Strait in North Queensland south to Central New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents outer reef slopes and deep clear lagoons amongst rubble or algae. Also found in sheltered estuaries, harbours and seagrass beds. Depth from 2 – 110 m.

Additional Notes: Often with wide broken stripe along side, with black spot on upper middle, yellow pectoral fin base and black blotch on leading edge of dorsal fin. Shy and secretive. Smallest species in the genus, grows to 15 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.327.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=oxycheilinus+bimaculatus. Accessed 20/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Oxycheilinus-bimaculatus.html. Accessed 20/06/18.