Common Name: Brokenline Wrasse

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed through the Indo-West Pacific region: from the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, south to Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded from Shark Bay in Western Australia across the tropical north, from the northern Great Barrier Reef south to Eastern Victoria and including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coastal reefs and harbours, shallow offshore reef. Depth to 18 m.

Additional Notes: Male distinguished from other Stethojulis species by interrupted mid stripe. Females and juveniles highly variable colouration but often have yellow nose and distinct scribbled pattern slightly above and behind the pectoral fin. Small juveniles silvery with broad black stripe from nose to tail, with thin black line under dorsal fin, often in mixed schools with other wrasses. Feeds by sorting small animals from mouthfuls of sand and detritus. Small juvenile pictured top, approximately 20 mm long, larger juvenile or female in second photograph, adult male in lower photograph. Grows to 13 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.334.

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

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