Eastern Leopard Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Eastern Leopard Wrasse, is a strikingly patterned wrasse found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, including the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, Lord Howe Island, and northern Western Australia.
• The species is renowned for its leopard-like pattern: males are brightly coloured with vivid green to turquoise bodies covered in blue spots, while females and juveniles are darker with white spots on a reddish-brown to black background.
• Juveniles have especially bold white spots arranged in neat rows across their bodies, which fade and change as they mature.
• This wrasse is highly sexually dimorphic. Females and juveniles look very different from the spectacularly patterned terminal-phase males, making them a textbook example of wrasse sex change and colour transformation.
• Like most wrasses, they are protogynous hermaphrodites — all individuals begin life as females, with the largest or most dominant individuals transitioning into males as needed.
• They feed mainly on small benthic invertebrates such as snails, worms, foraminifera, and tiny crustaceans, which they extract from sandy patches and rubble zones near coral reefs.
• They use their sharp teeth and extendable jaws to probe into sand and rubble for hidden prey.
• The Eastern Leopard Wrasse is diurnal, spending the day actively foraging but burying itself in sand at night to sleep, where it is safe from predators.
• Spawning takes place at dusk in small groups, with males performing elaborate display swims to court females. Eggs are released into the water column and drift until hatching.
• Their lifespan is thought to be 5–7 years in the wild, though captive individuals may live longer under stable conditions.
• Predators include larger reef carnivores such as groupers, snappers, and moray eels. Burying in sand at night helps them avoid nocturnal predation.
• The name meleagris comes from Latin meaning “spotted like a guinea fowl,” perfectly describing its leopard-like patterning.