‹ Fish Finder· #613

Claudia's Wrasse

Halichoeres claudia

Bislamasop · glisfis— names this kind of animal, not this species alone

Claudia's Wrasse — photo 1 of 1
Photo 1 of 1 · Reeffish (CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
rareorangegreenlinedsmallreef
Habitat
Reef
Max size
11 cm
Depth
1-24 m
Family
Labridae

Halichoeres claudia, the Christmas wrasse, is a species of wrasse of the family Labridae. It is widely distributed in the southwestern Pacific, occurring from French Polynesia to the Great Barrier Reef, with isolated populations in the Indian Ocean. This species was treated as Halichoeres ornatissimus for a long time, however, genetic evidence has shown that H. ornatissimus is restricted to Hawaii, while H. claudia is widespread in the western Pacific. The species was named in honor of Claudia Rocha for her contributions to ichthyology.

Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.