Yellowtail Wrasse

The Yellowtail Wrasse or African Coris (Coris gaimard) is a widespread Indo-Pacific reef wrasse known for a dramatic change in appearance with age. Juveniles are brilliant red-orange with white, black-edged saddle patches, while adults become dark blue-green stippled with pale blue spots, with a bright yellow tail and orange facial markings. Like other wrasses it is protogynous and a mobile, active reef forager. The species is popular in the aquarium trade for its color, and it plays a role in reef ecology by preying on hard-shelled invertebrates.

Yellowtail Wrasse identification depends on age:

• Adults: dark blue-green body with many small pale-blue spots, a yellow caudal fin, and orange/red head bands.
• Juveniles: bright red-orange with white, black-edged saddles along the back.
• Elongate, cigar-shaped wrasse body reaching ~38 cm.

The yellow tail on a spotted blue-green adult is the clinching feature.

This wrasse inhabits coral reefs, reef flats, and adjacent rubble and sand from shallow water to about 50 m across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Hawaii. It favours areas with a mix of coral, rock, and open sand into which it can dive to escape threats and to sleep. Juveniles are often found in shallow, sheltered reef zones.

Yellowtail Wrasse are active, diurnal foragers that roam the reef turning over rubble and sand for crabs, molluscs, sea urchins, and other hard-bodied invertebrates, crushing them with strong pharyngeal teeth. When threatened or at night they dive headfirst into sand to hide. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, changing from female to male, with dominant males displaying the brightest coloration during courtship.