Ringtail Maori Wrasse, Oxycheilinus unifasciatus (Streets 1877)

Other Names: Ring-tail Maori Wrasse, Tail-band Maori, Tail-band Maori-wrasse, Whiteband Maori Wrasse

A Ringtail Maori Wrasse, Oxycheilinus unifasciatus, at Rapid Horn, Holmes Reef, Coral Sea, November 2006. Source: Erik Schlogl / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A reddish to purplish-brown maori wrasse with a white band around the caudal peduncle. Males have a distinct whitish to greyish bar outlined in orange or brown on the gill cover behind the eye, and usually fine orange to bluish oblique lines on the cheek.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Oxycheilinus unifasciatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 27 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/264

Ringtail Maori Wrasse, Oxycheilinus unifasciatus (Streets 1877)

More Info

Distribution	Ningaloo Reef to the Murion Islands, and offshore reefs of north Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef to the Carpicorn Group, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, east-Indo-west-central Pacific: Cocos (Keeling) Islands east to Hawaii and French Polynesia (Marquesas Islands), north to Japan. Inhabits coral rich areas on coastal and offshore reefs at depths to 160 m.
Features	Dorsal fin IX, 10; Anal fin III, 8: Pectoral fin 12; Lateral-line scales 15-16 + 6-8.Body depth 2.6-3.2 in SL.
Biology	Protogynous hermaphrodites - changing sex from female to male during their life cycle.
Etymology	The specific name unifasciatus is from the Latin uni- (= one), and fasciatus (= banded) in reference to the white band around the base of the caudal peduncle.
Species Citation	Cheilinus unifasciatus Streets 1877, Bulletin of the United States National Museum 7: 82. Type locality: Tabuaeran [= Fanning Island], Line Islands, central Pacific.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Ringtail Maori Wrasse, Oxycheilinus unifasciatus (Streets 1877)

References

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