Species: Halichoeres pictus, Rainbow wrasse


Halichoeres pictus (Poey, 1860)
Rainbow wrasse
Elongate, compressed; 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 above, 2 pairs below), a canine at rear of top jaws; gill rakers 17-18; gill membranes fused under throat; dorsal fin IX, 11, not obviously notched between spiny and soft parts; anal fin III, 11; lateral line unbroken, but abruptly bent down under rear of dorsal fin, its tubes branched, except those on tail base, 26-29 pored scales.
Juvenile: head grey to whitish, body orange-yellow; a blackish to dark brown stripe from snout, through eye along midflank fading to brown then disappearing under the dorsal fin; a white stripe (which also fades behind) directly above the dark stripe. Initial phase: yellow-orange upper half, white below; a dark brown stripe from snout, through eye to end of tail base; a white stripe above that; fins yellow. Terminal phase: upper ½ of head and front of body green to red, changing to olive to orange-brown along rear ½ of body, lower half bluey white; those two colors may be separated by a black stripe from nose to end of tail base that joins a large elongate black and blue ocellus at the end of tail base and base of the caudal fin; a blue stripe above eye and 2 below; lower head with blue stripes; dorsal fin orange to red, anal fin blue.
Reaches 13 cm.
Outer edges of reefs.
Depth range: 5-55 m.
Bermuda to the S Caribbean.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
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- Near Bottom
- Bottom
- Bottom + water column
- Habitat
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- Reef only
- Water column
- Rocks
- Corals
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Planktivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Mobile benthic worms
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Zooplankton
- Egg Type
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- Pelagic larva
- Data
- Pelagic
- Global Endemism
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- All species.
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- GC endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- All species..
- Continent
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Least concern
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 13
- Depth Range Min
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- 5
- Depth Range Max
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- 55