Solarfin Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Solarfin Wrasse is endemic to Western Australia, found only from Shark Bay north to the Dampier Archipelago.
• Its body is greenish-blue with seven strong dark bars running across the sides, while the fins shimmer with yellow and blue highlights — colours that glow like “solar rays” in sunlight.
• Males are more vividly coloured than females, with brighter blues and greens, especially during courtship.
• Juveniles are paler, with more subdued striping, and often stay close to coral or rocky cover for protection.
• These wrasses live mainly on shallow rocky reefs, coral patches, and lagoons, where they dart quickly between hiding spots.
• Like many wrasses, it is a sequential hermaphrodite: most start life as females, and some change into males as they grow larger and dominate territories.
• Solarfin Wrasses are active daytime feeders, using their sharp jaws to pick at small invertebrates such as crabs, shrimp, worms, and molluscs.
• At night they retreat into reef crevices to rest safely from predators.
• They are fast and agile swimmers, often seen darting in loose groups over reef tops in the surge zone.
• Breeding occurs in pairs or small groups, with eggs released into the water column and left to drift until hatching.
• The lifespan is estimated at 5–7 years, similar to other wrasses of this size.