Striated wrasse

Lore & Background

The striated wrasse has an overall reddish colour with 24 fine longitudinal white lines on its body, sometimes showing 5–6 dark horizontal bars. A blue streak is present below the eye, and the gill cover has dark margins. Males and females show similar colourations and patterns, but females tend to be less intensely coloured. The species exhibits red fluorescence on its bony scales and fin rays.

It is a solitary and secretive benthopelagic wrasse found on seaward slopes of reefs among patches of rubble or branching corals at depths of 6–40 m, though it is infrequent at depths less than 20 m. It is carnivorous, feeding on small benthic invertebrates. The species is oviparous and shows pairing during spawning; in Japan, breeding is thought to occur in the summer.

The species was first formally described in 1903 by David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann, with the holotype collected from Henshaw's pool near Hilo on Hawaii Island.

Reader's Guide

The striated wrasse is notable for its wide Indo-Pacific distribution, ranging from the Red Sea and Africa to Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and the Marquesas Islands. It is collected as food by Sea Gypsies in some parts of Thailand and is also used in the aquarium trade. Its small size, secretive nature, and distinctive red fluorescence make it a subject of interest among reef observers. The species' ability to show red fluorescence on its scales and fin rays is a characteristic that sets it apart from many other wrasses. Its presence in the aquarium trade indicates a demand for this species among marine hobbyists, though its solitary and secretive habits in the wild suggest it may require specific conditions in captivity. The species' breeding behavior, with pairing during spawning and a summer breeding season in Japan, provides insight into its reproductive ecology. Overall, the striated wrasse represents a small but ecologically and commercially relevant member of the Labridae family.