Sharpnose Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Sharpnose Wrasse is widespread in Australia, occurring along the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, across northern waters, and into Western Australia from the Kimberley to Ningaloo Reef.
• Globally, it is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa across the Indian Ocean to Japan, Hawaii, French Polynesia, and the Marquesas Islands.
• The long, narrow head and pointed snout give the species its common name, allowing it to probe into crevices for hidden prey.
• Body colour is highly variable, ranging from mottled brown, green, or grey to black, often with white or yellowish patches. Some individuals display a striking checkerboard pattern.
• Males and females are not strongly dimorphic, but colour intensity and patterns shift with age, mood, and social status.
• Juveniles are usually slender and mottled, blending with seagrass or rubble habitats for camouflage, while adults appear stockier.
• This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, starting life as a female before some transition to males that hold loose territories.
• It feeds mainly on hard-shelled invertebrates, including crabs, molluscs, brittle stars, and sea urchins, using its strong jaws and pointed snout to extract and crush prey.
• Sharpnose Wrasses are diurnal foragers, roaming sandy lagoons and reef flats during the day and resting under ledges or in crevices at night.
• They are often observed foraging singly, unlike many smaller wrasses that move in shoals.
• The species has been recorded digging in sand or turning over rubble to find prey, similar to tuskfishes but with a more probing feeding style.
• They inhabit a wide range of reef environments, from shallow seagrass beds and lagoons to outer reef slopes.
• Their ecological role includes controlling invertebrate populations and disturbing the substrate while foraging, which helps recycle nutrients in reef systems.
• Sharpnose Wrasses are long-lived, with individuals believed to survive more than 10 years in the wild.