Pale Slender Wrasse, Hologymnosus longipes (Günther 1862)


Other Names: Pale Slender-wrasse, Sidespot Longface Wrasse, Sidespot Ringwrasse

A Pale Slender Wrasse, Hologymnosus longipes (TP terminal phase), on Lihou Reef in the Coral Sea, December 2008. Source: Tony Ayling / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
Initial phase (female) individuals are pale greenish-yellow to bluish-grey with 2 series of vertically elongate orange spots on body continuing on the head as solid stripes, and an orange to yellow caudal fin. Terminal phase (male) individuals are greenish, becoming whitish below, with a green head, pink bars radiating from the eye, orange bars on the side becoming pale lavenderish-blue to purple anteriorly on lower side, an oval black spot on side of body above pectoral fin, and a large, whitish area on the rear of the blue caudal fin. 

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Hologymnosus longipes in Fishes of Australia, accessed 30 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/248

Pale Slender Wrasse, Hologymnosus longipes (Günther 1862)

More Info


Distribution

Block Reef to Flinders Reef, Moreton Island, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea, with juveniles as far south as Montague Island, New South Wales; also Elizabeth & Middleton Reefs and Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, south-west Pacific (New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu).
Inhabits lagoon and seaward reefs, usually over sandy or rubble areas near coral heads at depths of 5-30 m.

Features

Head without scales; caudal fin slightly rounded to truncate, the corners a little prolonged; pectoral fin short in adults. 

Colour

Initial phase light greenish yellow to bluish grey with 2 series of vertically elongate orange spots on body that continue onto head as solid stripes, caudal fin orange to yellow, body of terminal male light greenish dorsally, white ventrally, with orange bars on side that become pale lavender-blue to purple bars anteriorly on lower side, an oval black spot on side of body dorsal to pectoral fin, head green with pink bands radiating from eye, caudal fin blue with a large, whitish semicircular area posteriorly (Randall 2005).

Species Citation

Coris longipes Günther 1862, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. 4: 204. Type locality: Aneityum Island, Vanuatu.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2018

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Pale Slender Wrasse, Hologymnosus longipes (Günther 1862)

References


Choat, J.H., van Herwerden, L., Robbins, W.D., Hobbs, J.P. & Ayling, A.M. 2006. A report on the ecological surveys undertaken at Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, February 2006. Report by James Cook University to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. 65 pp.

Günther, A. 1862. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Acanthopterygii Pharyngognathi and Anacanthini in the collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 4 534 pp. 

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp. 

Kuiter, R.H. 2002. Fairy & Rainbow Wrasses and their Relatives. Chorleywood, U.K. : TMC Publishing 207 pp. 

Kuiter, R.H. 2010. Labridae fishes: wrasses. Seaford, Victoria, Australia : Aquatic Photographics pp. 398.

Randall, J.E. 1982. A review of the labrid fish genus Hologymnosus. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 9(1): 13-20 figs 1-10

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E. & Yamakawa, T. 1988. A new species of the labrid fish of the genus Hologymnosus from the Western Pacific, with notes on H. longipes. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 15(1): 25-30 figs 1-4

Westneat, M.W. 2001. Labridae. pp. 3381-3467 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Yeeting, B. 2010. Hologymnosus longipes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T187406A8527165. . Downloaded on 09 September 2015.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37384128

Biology:Hermaphrodite

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:5-30 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:40 cm TL

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Species Maps

CAAB distribution map