Western king wrasse
Western king wrasse (Coris auricularis) are found from Coral Bay in the north-west of Western Australia to the Recherche Archipelago (Esperance) in the south and can grow to 40 cm in length.
They are commonly found on offshore reefs, close to sand and seagrass areas.
The western king wrasse displays sexual dimorphism, resulting in the males and females often being mistaken for separate species. This means that although the male and female have a similar body shape, the colouration and patterns on their body are distinctively different in appearance, distinguishing the male from the female.
The adult male can generally be described as being pink/red in colour, with a white vertical stripe behind the pectoral fin. The adult females are cream-to-reddish, with a red horizontal stripe extending through the eye to the base of the tail.
Western king wrasse live in groups, where one dominant male is surrounded with his harem of females!
Like other types of reef fishes, western king wrasses are all born as females and have the ability to change sex to males - a condition known as 'protogyny'. Therefore if the male in the group dies or disappears, the biggest female changes sex to become male.
Did you know... juveniles and small females group together on reefs to form cleaning stations (like a carwash), where they pick parasites from the fins and gills of larger fish.