Labridae

Yellow wrasse

Halichoeres chrysus

Three black eyespots dwindling to one with age

• Yellow
• Cross-climate
• Subtropical
• Tropical
• Regional distribution
• Marine fish
• Fusiform
• Compressed cross-section
• Small
• Tropical fish

Bathed from snout to tail in an unbroken sheen of vibrant yellow, the yellow wrasse is a beloved small labrid that enlivens reef shallows across the western Pacific. Its slender, compressed body glows in uniform golden-yellow, accented around the face by subtle, shimmering pinkish-orange stripes behind the eye. Juveniles and females display two to three small, black false-eye ocelli ringed in pale yellow along the dorsal fin and one at the caudal peduncle, while territorial terminal males lose these markings except for a single subtle dark spot at the front of the dorsal fin. Distributed from eastern Indonesia and Christmas Island through the Great Barrier Reef to southern Japan, it inhabits sandy reef fringes, coral rubble patches, and outer crests between two and thirty meters depth. A diurnal forager, it moves briskly across limestone rock, devouring pyramellid snails, parasitic isopods, and tiny bristle worms. When evening falls, it buries completely beneath loose sand to sleep safely. Maximum recorded total length reaches twelve centimetres.

Sources: Australian Museum — Canary Wrasse, Halichoeres chrysus