Common Name: Painted Rainbow Wrasse

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific region: New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands, northeast coast of New Zealand. Also reported from southern Japan. In Australia recorded from southern Queensland south to southern New South Wales and including Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

Ecological Notes: Frequents inshore shallow reefs, sand patches and rubble areas. Depth 13 – 100 m.

Additional Notes: Inverted V stripe on tail, yellow cheek and rows of bright blue spots on sides of male. Female pink to pale red, with lines of blue spots, juvenile in bottom photograph, pink dorsally, pale below with ocelli at front and rear of dorsal fin, plus small spot on upper tail base. Feeds on small crustaceans and other invertebrates. Grows to 14 cm.

References: Kuiter, R. H., Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Published by Crawford House Press Pty. Ltd., 1993. p.278.

R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.335.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=suezichthys+arquatus. Accessed 10/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Suezichthys-arquatus.html. Accessed 10/07/18.