Wrasses, hogfishes, razorfishes, corises and tuskfishes are the common names used for the members of Labridae family. They occur in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. They are mainly saltwater fishes. Their mouth are terminal, usually with prominent lips and mouth slightly to extremely protrusible. Their teeth are usually jutting outward and with gaps between teeth. Most species are brightly coloured. They are typically small fish, with most less than 20 cm long, although the largest, the Humphead Wrasse, can measure up to 2.5 m.
Wrasses are difficult to identify. Many species could be identified by their live colouration, but they vary between juveniles and adults and with sex change. The colours also change after death. They are also often being confused as parrotfishes. Most of them mature first as females and then sexually transform into males, usually accompanied by a change in colour phase. In species where 2 adult colour phases are known, the first is termed “initial phase” (IP), the second, “terminal phase” (TP). Initial phases may thus be male or female, while terminal phases are invariably male.
Wrasses are most often found on or in the vicinity of coral reefs, rocky reefs, sand, grass, and algae, and are usually most abundant in shallow waters. Some species are found at depths of 100 m but are rarely found in muddy areas. Wrasses are diurnal, taking cover in reef crevices or burrowing into the sediment at night. They have a diverse feeding habits. Some of them carnivores, some planktivores, and some small species remove ectoparasites and dead tissues of larger fishes.
There are 70 genera and about 509 species of Labridae worldwide. Malaysia has at least 25 genera and 70 species.
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Scientific Name: Cheilinus chlorourus (Bloch, 1791) English Name: Floral Wrasse, Tripletail Wrasse Mandarin Name: 鹦哥 (Yīng gē) Local Malay Name: Mameng Bintik Kuning, Tetarap, Bayan Main Diagnostic Features: Head with small orange-red spots, some joining to form lines radiating from eye. Median fins with whitish dots. Body brown to dark olive with small pale spots. Can rapidly change colour depending upon its background. The upper and lower rays form elongate lobes giving the fin a trilobed appearance in adult. Size: Maximum standard length about 36 cm.  Scientific Name: Choerodon oligacanthus (Bleeker, 1851) English Name: Seagrass Tuskfish, White-patch Tuskfish Mandarin Name:鹦哥 (Yīng gē) Local Malay Name: Ikan Ketarap Tanda, Bayan Main Diagnostic Features: Body colour orange with light grey longitudinal stripes, a large bright yellow oval spot on side above lateral line and below anterior half of dorsal fin. Size: Maximum standard length about 28 cm.   Scientific Name: Choerodon schoenleinii (Valenciennes, 1839) English Name: Blackspot Tuskfish Mandarin Name: 青鹦哥 (Qīng yīng gē), 哨牙仔 (Shào yá zǐ), 青衣 (Qīngyī) Local Malay Name: Ketarap Bintik Hitam, Bayan Main Diagnostic Features: Body green-grey and blue, with a prominent blue line on each scale. Recognized by a black spot smaller than eye at base of last dorsal-fin spine. Size: Maximum total length about 90 cm.   Scientific Name: Epibulus insidiator (Pallas, 1770) English Name: Sling-jaw Wrasse Mandarin Name: 伸口鱼 (Shēn kǒu yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Bayan, Batu, Nuri Sumpit Main Diagnostic Features: Dorsal profile of head convex in front of dorsal fin, with a slight concavity above and before eye. Jaws extremely protrusible, capable of being extended forward more than half length of head. Size: Maximum total length about 54 cm.  Scientific Name: Halichoeres nigrescens (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) English Name: Bubblefin Wrasse, Diamond Wrasse Mandarin Name: 鹦哥 (Yīng gē), 黑带海猪鱼 (Hēi dài hǎi zhū yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Bayan, Batu, Nuri Belodok Main Diagnostic Features: Dorsal-fin origin posterior to point midway between eye and pectoral-fin base. Body silvery to greenish with red, yellow and blue markings forming broad bars across the body. Snout pointed. Size: Maximum total length about 14 cm.  Scientific Name: Hemigymnus melapterus (Bloch, 1791) English Name: Blackeye Thicklip Mandarin Name:鹦哥 (Yīng gē), 黑鳍厚唇鱼 (Hēi qí hòu chún yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Ketarap Tanda, Bayan, Bibir-tebal Badan Gelap Main Diagnostic Features: Head and upper front of body light green, pale blue-green ventrally. Irregular bands on snout and above eye, and a large complex marking behind eye. Lips large and fleshy, the lower lips split on the midline forming 2 lobes. Size: Maximum total length about 50 cm.  |