Common Name: Redspot Wrasse

Distribution: Abundant in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from the eastern Indian Ocean to Western Australia including Andaman sea, Christmas and Cocos-Keeling Islands, from Japan south to New South Wales, east to the Galapagos Islands. In Australia recorded from Geraldton to north eastern Western Australia, from Torres Strait, the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to southern New South Wales and including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

Ecological Notes: Frequents shallow clear waters of offshore reefs and lagoons, areas of coral and rocky reef, mixed sand and rubble. Depth 3 – 30m.

Additional Notes: Initial phase shown in top photograph. Adult male darker green/blue above and pale below, lower photograph. Red crescent over pectoral fin base is identifying feature, even in small juveniles. Usually solitary or in small groups, feeds on small benthic invertebrates and demersal planktonic crustaceans. 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.333.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Stethojulis+bandanensis. Accessed 09/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Stethojulis-bandanensis.html. Accessed 09/07/18.