Rainbow Wrasse

The Rainbow Wrasse (Coris julis) is a small, slender wrasse of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, one of the most common wrasses on rocky southern-European coasts. Terminal-phase males are colourful, with a bright orange, zigzag lateral stripe over a blue-green body, while initial-phase fish are plainer brown with a pale underside. It is an active, restless forager that buries in sand to sleep. Like other wrasses it is a protogynous hermaphrodite, and it is a familiar, brightly coloured member of Mediterranean reef communities.

Identify the Rainbow Wrasse by:

• Very slender, elongate body, ~15-25 cm.
• Terminal males: blue-green with a striking orange zigzag stripe along the flank.
• Initial phase: brown above, whitish or yellow below, with a pale lateral line.

The orange zigzag on males and the extremely slim profile are the best cues.

Rainbow Wrasse live over rocky reefs, seagrass, and mixed sand-and-rock bottoms from the shallows to about 60 m in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic from Scandinavia to West Africa. They favour warm inshore rocky areas with nearby sand into which they can dive to shelter.

Rainbow Wrasse are restless, diurnal foragers that pick small crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and sea urchins from the reef, and will follow larger fish to snap up disturbed prey. They bury themselves in sand at night and during cold periods. As protogynous hermaphrodites, initial-phase fish (mostly females) can transform into brightly coloured terminal males, which court females and spawn in the water column.