Green Moon Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Green Moon Wrasse, is widely distributed across northern Australia—from Western Australia through the Northern Territory to Queensland and northern New South Wales.
• Males are brightly coloured, with a vivid green to blue-green body, yellow facial crescent, and reddish or purple head markings, while females and juveniles are more subdued, often olive with a black lateral stripe that fades as they mature.
• Juveniles are yellow-brown with a dark mid-body stripe and often act as cleaners, setting up small cleaning stations where they pick parasites from reef fish and even sea turtles before shifting to a more carnivorous adult diet.
• They are protogynous hermaphrodites, starting life as females before some transition into dominant males when the territory’s male is lost or removed.
• These wrasses feed on a wide variety of invertebrates including crabs, shrimps, gastropods, brittle stars, sea urchins, worms, and fish eggs, and are also known to join mixed-species feeding groups with other wrasses and parrotfish.
• Green Moon Wrasses are strong, agile swimmers and can rapidly change the brightness of their colours during courtship or when threatened, flashing between dull camouflage tones and vibrant displays.
• They inhabit reef flats, lagoons, and outer slopes from shallow water down to about 30 m (98 ft). Juveniles prefer shallow, sheltered lagoons while adults often roam more exposed reef zones.
• Spawning usually occurs in pairs in the water column, with males and females swimming together before releasing eggs and sperm to drift with the currents.
• Their lifespan is typically 5–7 years in the wild, although in stable aquarium conditions they can live up to 10 years.
• They play an important role in reef health by consuming invertebrates that might otherwise overpopulate and damage coral ecosystems.