Bluethroat Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Bluethroat Wrasse is a temperate reef fish endemic to southern Australia, found from southern New South Wales through Victoria, Tasmania, and across to southern Western Australia. It is especially common around Tasmania and Bass Strait islands.
• Males are striking, with a deep bluish throat patch (which gives the species its name), greenish-brown body, and yellow-orange fins. Females are smaller and usually reddish-brown to orange with mottled patterns.
• Juveniles are reddish-orange with pale spots and are often mistaken for a different species before they mature into the female phase.
• Bluethroat Wrasses are protogynous hermaphrodites, starting life as females before some change into dominant males when large enough to hold territories.
• They are powerful carnivores, using strong jaws and teeth to crush crabs, shrimps, molluscs, sea urchins, and worms. Their feeding helps regulate invertebrate populations on southern reefs.
• They are highly territorial. Males defend rocky reef patches and harems of females, especially during the breeding season, when they brighten in colour and patrol constantly.
• Spawning occurs in spring and summer, when males court females and eggs are released into the water column to drift until hatching. Like many wrasses, they show no parental care.
• They typically live 7–10 years, though some large males may survive longer if they can defend territories successfully.
• At night they wedge themselves into rocky crevices or under kelp for protection, sometimes changing to duller colours for camouflage.
• They are one of the most important wrasses ecologically and economically in southern Australia, with their abundance supporting a targeted fishery in Tasmania.