Creole wrasse
Creole wrasse | |
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Scientific classification![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Labriformes |
Family: | Labridae |
Genus: | Clepticus |
Species: | C. parrae
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Binomial name | |
Clepticus parrae (Bloch&J. G. Schneider,1801)
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Synonyms | |
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Thecreole wrasse(Clepticus parrae) is a species ofwrassenative to the westernAtlantic Ocean.
Description
[edit]The creole wrasse is a small wrasse, with males reaching around 30 cm (1 ft) in length, while females are smaller. It has a typical wrasse shape. Like many wrasse, it changes colour markedly during its lifetime, with juveniles being almost completely violet-purple. As it matures, it develops a yellow patch on the rear part of its body.[2]
Distribution
[edit]The species is found throughout the tropical waters of the westernAtlantic OceanfromFloridatoBrazil,includingBermuda Islands,theCaribbean Sea,and theGulf of Mexico.[1]
Ecology
[edit]This wrasse lives in groups, aggregating oncoral reefslopes, down to around 100 m (330 ft) in depth. These groups feed onplankton,including smalljellyfish,pteropods,[3]pelagictunicates,and invertebrate larvae.[4]The creole wrasse is active by day, and at night it retreats alone to a rocky crevice in the reef to sleep.
Reproduction
[edit]The creole wrasse is aprotogynous hermaphrodite;the largest fish in a group is a dominant breeding male, while smaller fish remain female. If the dominant male dies, the largest female changes sex. The mature males congregate atleksto breed, at which they display and are approached by females before mating with them.
Taxonomy
[edit]The creole wrasse was first formallydescribedin 1801 asBrama parraebyMarcus Elieser Bloch&Johann Gottlob Schneider.In 1829Georges Cuvierdescribed a species and a new genus which he namedClepticus genizara,this name was later regarded as asynonymof Bloch and Schneider's earlier name and this species is thetype speciesof the genusClepticus.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^abChoat, J.H.; Rocha, L.; Craig, M. (2010)."Clepticus parrae".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2010:e.T187546A8564076.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T187546A8564076.en.Retrieved20 November2021.
- ^"Fish Identification: Creole Wrasse".The Diving Blog.Retrieved2 July2012.
- ^"Clepticus parrae(Creole Wrasse) "(PDF).The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago.UWI.
- ^Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019)."Clepticus parrae"inFishBase.August 2019 version.
- ^Eschmeyer, William N.;Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.)."Brama parrae".Catalog of Fishes.California Academy of Sciences.Retrieved5 January2019.
- ^Eschmeyer, William N.;Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.)."Clepticus".Catalog of Fishes.California Academy of Sciences.Retrieved5 January2019.
External links
[edit]- Bailly, Nicolas (2018)."Clepticus parrae(Bloch & Schneider, 1801) ".WoRMS.World Register of Marine Species.
- Photos ofCreole wrasseon Sealife Collection