Southern Maori Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Southern Maori Wrasse is a temperate reef fish found in southern Australia, ranging from southern Queensland and New South Wales through Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and into southern Western Australia. It is most common around rocky reefs and kelp beds.
• Males are boldly coloured, with bluish-green to green bodies marked by distinct black bars or stripes running across their sides, giving them a tattooed or “Maori-like” pattern. Females and juveniles are more subdued, usually orange-brown to reddish with paler bellies and faint markings.
• Juveniles often appear reddish or orange with small spots and stripes, blending well into kelp and weedy habitats until they mature into the more vividly patterned adult form.
• Like many wrasses, the Southern Maori Wrasse is a protogynous hermaphrodite. They begin life as females, with some later transitioning into large, dominant males that control territories and harems.
• Their diet is mainly carnivorous, consisting of crabs, shrimps, sea urchins, snails, and worms. They use strong jaws and teeth to crush hard-shelled prey, playing a key role in controlling invertebrate populations on reefs.
• They inhabit rocky reefs, kelp beds, and mixed sand–reef zones, often patrolling reef edges and surge channels where prey is abundant.
• Males are territorial and perform courtship displays during the breeding season, flashing colours and chasing females before spawning in the water column. The fertilised eggs drift until hatching into planktonic larvae.
• Their lifespan is estimated at 8–10 years in the wild.
• At night, they wedge into crevices or beneath kelp for protection, often changing to duller tones to camouflage themselves from predators.
• They are important mid-level predators, helping regulate the abundance of invertebrates that graze on kelp and seagrass ecosystems.