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Species: Halichoeres burekae, Mardi Gras Wrasse

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

IP - snout yellow, rest orange above, white below, C base - large black & blue ocellus
TP - blue + yellow stripe on flank under soft D; D orange + frontal black blotch, C pink + blue stripes

Halichoeres burekae Weaver & Rocha, 2007

Mardi Gras Wrasse

Body elongate, relatively slender; snout short (7.2-8.6% of SL); mouth protrusible, opens at front, thick lips; rear of top jawbone not visible on cheek; toothed grinding plates in throat; enlarged canine teeth at front of both jaws, 1 pair on upper jaw, 2 pairs on lower jaws, a pair of canines at rear of top jaws; 18 (17-20) gill rakers; gill membranes fused under throat; dorsal fin VIII-IX, 11, not obviously notched between spiny and soft parts; anal fin III, 12; pectoral 13 (12-13); tail fin straight in small fish, doubly concave in large males; 27 (26-27) lateral line scales; lateral line unbroken, but abruptly bent down under last 3 rays of dorsal fin, its tubes branched, except those on tail base.

Initial phase: snout yellow; rest of head and body orangish red; lower head and belly bright white; a large elongate black & blue ocellus on center rear of tail base. Terminal phase: head and upper front back purplish red to blue; mid flank with a broad yellow stripe under the soft dorsal fading into blue on rear of tail base; lower belly and lower tail base blue; a black and blue spot on shoulder above the pectoral base; dorsal fin orange, with a blue edge and a large blackish blotch covering front 5-6 spines; tail pink with blue stripes; anal fin with pink and blue stripes.

Reaches 9.3 cm.

Lives on hard substrata of reefs.

Depth range: 2-50 m.

The Gulf of Mexico.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Near Bottom
Habitat
  • Reef only
  • Rocks
  • Water column
  • Corals
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
  • Planktivore
Diet
  • Data
  • Zooplankton
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent only
  • GC endemic
  • Gulf of Mexico endemic
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Endangered
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 9.3
Depth Range Min
  • 2
Depth Range Max
  • 50