Common Name: Cockerel Wrasse

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific region: from Indonesia to the Coral Sea, north to Guam, south to southeastern Australia. In Australia recorded from around Geraldton north to Exmouth in Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to central New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents various habitats from shallow algal covered reefs to deep offshore on soft substrate with sponges and hydroids. Depth 2 – 64 m.

Additional Notes: Mottled pink to red, sometimes with longitudinal narrow white stripes along side, has dark spot with light edging bordered by light green often present on the opercle, perhaps fading with age. Very secretive, darting from hiding place to hiding place and rarely in the open. Grows to about 15 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.333.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Pteragogus+enneacanthus. Accessed 05/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Pteragogus-enneacanthus.html. Accessed 05/07/18.