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, Dotted Maori Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 鹦哥 (Yīng gē) Local Malay Name: Mameng Bintik Kuning, Tetarap, Bayan Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทองจุดแดง (Plā nk k̄hunthxng cud dæng) Main Identification 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 black and white specks. 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 total length 45 cm. Habitat and Ecology: Coral, rocky reefs and occasionally in sea grass areas, to 30 m depth. Feeds on benthic invertebrates including molluscs, crustaceans, polychaetes and sea urchin.  Scientific Name: Choerodon oligacanthus (Bleeker, 1851) English Name: Seagrass Tuskfish, White-patch Tuskfish Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 鹦哥 (Yīng gē) Local Malay Name: Ikan Ketarap Tanda, Bayan Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทอง (Plā nk k̄hunthxng) Main Identification 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. Habitat and Ecology: Rubble bottoms of coastal and estuarine waters, 2 to 40 m depth. Feeds on hard-shelled prey including crustaceans, molluscs, and sea urchins.   Scientific Name: Choerodon schoenleinii (Valenciennes, 1839) English Name: Blackspot Tuskfish Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 青鹦哥 (Qīng yīng gē), 哨牙仔 (Shào yá zǐ), 青衣 (Qīngyī) Local Malay Name: Ketarap Bintik Hitam, Bayan Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทองสีฟ้า (Plā nk k̄hunthxng s̄ī f̂ā), ปลานกแก้ว (Plā nk kæ̂w) Main Identification 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. Habitat and Ecology: Coral reefs and lagoons, to 60 m depth. The species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, males only occur in larger size fish. Feeds on hard-shelled prey including crustaceans, molluscs, and sea urchins.    Scientific Name: Epibulus insidiator (Pallas, 1770) English Name: Sling-jaw Wrasse Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 伸口鱼 (Shēn kǒu yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Bayan, Batu, Nuri Sumpit Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทองปากยื่น (Plā nk k̄hunthxng pāk yụ̄̀n) Main Identification 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. Habitat and Ecology: Coral reefs, 1 to 42 m depth. Adults usually along deep slopes or drop-offs. Haremic. Feeds small fishes, shrimps, and crabs.  Scientific Name: Halichoeres nigrescens (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) English Name: Bubblefin Wrasse, Diamond Wrasse Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 鹦哥 (Yīng gē), 黑带海猪鱼 (Hēi dài hǎi zhū yú) Local Malay Name: Ikan Bayan, Batu, Nuri Belodok Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทอง (Plā nk k̄hunthxng), ปลาเหลืองหิน (Plā h̄elụ̄xng h̄in) Main Identification 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. Pectoral fin base with a dark spot. Size: Maximum total length about 14 cm. Habitat and Ecology: Coastal sandy and weedy areas and on reefs, 2 to 20 m depth. Found in groups. Small individuals have been recorded to clean other fishes.  Scientific Name: Hemigymnus melapterus (Bloch, 1791) English Name: Blackeye Thicklip, Thicklip Wrasse Mandarin Name | 鱼类中文名: 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 Thai Name | ชื่อสามัญภาษาไทย: ปลานกขุนทองปากหนา (Plā nk k̄hunthxng pāk h̄nā) Main Identification 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. Habitat and Ecology: Coral reefs, to 40 m depth. Occurs solitary or in small groups. Juveniles were found inshore and settled among branching corals, long spines of sea urchins or close to substrate among other stinging invertebrates for protection. Feeds primarily by taking in mouthfulls of sand, sorting out small invertebrates and then expelling the sand out through the gill openings. Feeds mainly on crustaceans, polychaete worms, molluscs, and brittle stars. 
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