Soela Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Soela Wrasse is a small reef fish that is endemic to Western Australia, found mainly around the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and offshore reefs near Geraldton.
• Males are colourful, showing greenish-blue across the head, back, and dorsal fin with a white belly, while females are smaller and duller, often pinkish or pale brown.
• Juveniles are even plainer, usually pale with faint markings that help them blend into algae and rubble until they mature.
• The Soela Wrasse is protogynous, beginning life as a female and with some individuals changing to males as they grow larger and older.
• It prefers shallow coral and rocky reefs, where it darts among rubble and algae beds in search of food.
• The diet consists of tiny invertebrates such as crustaceans, worms, and molluscs, and it also picks at small reef fishes when the chance arises.
• Like many wrasses, it feeds using quick pecking motions, moving constantly and rarely staying still for long.
• Breeding takes place in the summer months from December to February. Males display brighter colours and guard small territories to attract females.
• Females lay eggs in rocky crevices, and males are thought to guard the eggs until they hatch, a behaviour that helps protect the next generation.
• This wrasse is slow-growing, taking about 3–4 years to reach maturity, which makes it vulnerable to changes in population size.
• Its lifespan is estimated at 5–6 years, which is short compared to many larger wrasses but typical for such a small-bodied species.
• Because of its very limited distribution, the Soela Wrasse is of special scientific interest as an example of a reef fish adapted to Western Australia’s unique temperate–tropical transition zone.