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Cuckoo wrasse in normal colors and mating colors By: Douglas P. Wilson From: Life Nature Library: The Fishes 1963

#cuckoo wrasse #wrasse #labriform #bony fish #fish #1963 #1960s #Douglas P. Wilson #Life Nature Library

h3ll0 f1shy g1v3r!!1!! M4y i h4v3 a tr0p1c4l f1shy w1th l0tz 0f col0r??

(Translation: Hello fishy giver!!1!! May I have a tropical fishy with lots of color?? :3)

You get a Cuckoo Wrasse

Labrus mixtus

#i give fish #asks #cuckoo wrasse #wrasse

Splashed out this 4 layer screen print this week featuring some funky local fish living in the Plymouth Sound! We've got a Bull huss shark, a Cuckoo wrasse, a Gunard, a Mackerel, a Boarfish, and a Snipefish! Now available on my shop here 🛒🐟, 10 available! I've got a lil process video too

#sea creatures #fishblr #marine biology #marine life #screenprinting #silkscreen #screenprint #sharks #Bull huss shark #Cuckoo wrasse #gunard #mackerel #boarfish #snipefish #my art

This is a...

critter

creature

beast

Voting ended onFeb 18

By Olivier Dugornay - Vieille coquette (Labrus mixtus), CC BY 4.0

#cuckoo wrasse #wrasse #ray-finned fish #fish #wet [critter creature or beast] wednesday #wednesday poll #id in alt text

Day 220#: Cuckoo Wrasse

Today's animal of the day is the Cuckoo Wrasse (Labrus mixtus)!

Photo credit: Keith DP Wilson

This brightly colored species of fish is native to the eastern region of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, in rocky areas with lots of water plants for it to hide in. Females and young males are a mix of pinkish-orange and red with three black spots on their dorsal fins, while mature males have blue heads and orange bodies with blue stripes and blotches. Like many other fish species, the cuckoo wrasse is a protogynous hermaphrodite, with every individual being born female and only transforming into males if they are already five years old or older and if there are no pre-existing males for them to mate with. This process isn't instant, and usually takes around seven months for them to fully transition.

Photo credit: Sylvain Le Bris

The name "cuckoo wrasse" might make you think of cuckoo birds, which are notorious for laying their eggs in the nests of other birds and tricking them into raising the cuckoo chicks instead of their own young. However, cuckoo wrasses are actually great parents! Females can lay up to a thousand eggs in a single clutch, and will lay them in a dish-shaped nest that the male makes out of algae. Afterwards, the male will stand by and guard the nest from any potential predators. I won't lie, when I first heard of these fish, I assumed that they'd be brood parasites of some kind, but apparently they were named by Cornish fishermen who thought the blue scales of the males looked like bluebell flowers, which are sometimes also called "the cuckoo flower".

Photo credit: Xavier Rufray

These fish are normally solitary, unless it's a breeding pair with their young, and usually stay at depths of 130 to 260 ft deep. Though younger individuals will sometimes venture into shallower waters. Their diet consists mostly of crustaceans, but they'll also sometimes eat molluscs, worms, and even smaller fish. They are a fairly long-lived fish, with some individuals living between 17 and 20 years old. Sadly, this means that they are slow breeders, which makes it hard for them to replenish their populations whenever they're harvested by humans. While they are occasionally eaten in some places, they're not super popular as food and aren't heavily targeted by commercial fisheries. However, because of their bright colors, they are more often sought after by sportsfishermen or are captured to be sold to aquariums. Cuckoo wrasse, and many other types of wrasse, are also often captured to be used as cleaner fish in salmon farms, since they'll help keep the salmon free of various parasites. It should be noted that this has caused certain populations of these fish to significantly decline, but as a whole the species is listed as of least concern.