Red Maori Wrasse, Cheilinus oxycephalus Bleeker 1853


Other Names: Plain-faced Maori Wrasse, Pointed Head Maori Wrasse, Point-head Maori, Pointhead Maori-wrasse, Snooty Maori Wrasse, Snooty Wrasse, Snooty Wrasse

A Red Maori Wrasse, Cheilinus oxycephalus, at Komodo, Komodo, Manggarai, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A relatively deep-bodied wrasse ranging in colour from red to greenish-brown, with a black spot on the front of the dorsal fin, and three black spots along the rear midsides.
This shy, secretive wrasse hides among corals, rarely venturing far from shelter.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2019, Cheilinus oxycephalus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 28 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2960

Red Maori Wrasse, Cheilinus oxycephalus Bleeker 1853

More Info


Distribution

Offshore reefs of Western Australia (e.g. Rowley Shoals and Scott Reef), Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea, to the Capricorn Group, Queensland; also Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific.
Individuals or pairs inhabit coral-rich areas of lagoons and outer reefs at depths to 40 m.

Species Citation

Cheilinus oxycephalus Bleeker 1853, Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 5: 349. Type locality:  Ambon, Indonesia.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2019

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Red Maori Wrasse, Cheilinus oxycephalus Bleeker 1853

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.


Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 197 pp. 

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island.Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.  
Bleeker, P. 1853. Vierde bijdrage tot de kennis der ichthyoNatuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indiëlogische fauna van Amboina.  5: 317-352 

Goeden, G.B. 1974. Revised list of fishes of Heron Wistari Marine National Park. Technical Paper. Department of Forestry, Queensland 2: 1-19 

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202 

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270 

Hutchins, J.B., Williams, D.McB., Newman, S.J., Cappo, M. & Speare, P. 1995. New records of fishes for the Rowley Shoals and Scott/Seringapatam Reefs, off north-western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 17: 119-123 

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls. 

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. 

Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 2. Fusiliers - Dragonets, Caesionidae - Callionymidae. Australia : Zoonetics pp. 304-622.

Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls. 

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Thompson, A.A. 2003. Marine surveys undertaken in the Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, March-April 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Science 59 pp. 

Oxley, W.G., Emslie, M., Muir, P. & Thompson, A.A. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve, March 2004. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Science i-vii, 1-67 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. & Parenti, P. 1999. Rejection of nine old labrid fish names in order to conserve well-established taxa. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 26(1-2): 29-32

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2 

Ryan, S. & Clarke, K. 2005. Ecological assessment of the Queensland Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery. A report to the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage on the ecologically sustainable management of the Queensland marine aquarium harvest fishery. Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Brisbane, Australia 78 pp.

To, A., Liu, M. & Sadovy, Y. 2010. Cheilinus oxycephalus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T187649A8589714. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T187649A8589714.en. Downloaded on 19 February 2019.

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.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37384067

Biology:Hermaphrodite

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:0-40 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:17 cm TL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map