Splendid Wrasse

Interesting Info

• The Splendid Wrasse is recorded from the northern Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, south to Sydney, and around Lord Howe Island.
• Males in their terminal phase are brilliantly coloured, flashing green, blue, and yellow stripes with a yellow tail, while females and juveniles are pink to orange with more subdued markings.
• This striking sex-based colour change comes from the wrasse’s ability to change sex — most start life as females, and some later transform into males to take over harems.
• Splendid Wrasses are daytime foragers, feeding on tiny crustaceans, worms, and molluscs picked from sandy rubble near reefs.
• At night they bury themselves in sand to sleep safely away from predators.
• Their colours flash brightest when males display to females or when rival males compete.
• Breeding takes place in small groups, with a dominant male spawning with several females at dusk. Eggs are released into open water and drift until hatching.
• They are quick, agile swimmers, often seen in small loose groups darting over rubble slopes and reef edges.
• Divers and snorkellers with sharp eyes can spot them flitting around outer reef rubble patches.
• The lifespan is short, about 3–5 years, typical of small wrasses.