Cigar wrasse

Cigar wrasse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Labridae
Genus: Cheilio
Lacépède, 1802
Species: C. inermis
Binomial name
Cheilio inermis
(Forsskål, 1775)
Synonyms

Several, See text

The cigar wrasse, Cheilio inermis, is a species of wrasse native to the Indo-Pacific. It is mainly found on tropical reefs at depths to 30 m (98 ft) in the Indo-Pacific region, Red Sea included.[2] They inhabit seagrass beds and algae-covered flats, occasionally in lagoon and seaward reefs to a depth of at least 30 m. They are a mostly solitary species. Their diet includes crustaceans, mollusks, sea urchins, and other hard-shelled prey.[3]

Description

It grows to an average length of 35 cm (14 in) but can reach up to 50 cm (20 in).[4]

Young individuals are usually a mottled brown or green, sometimes with a broad lateral stripe. Rare individuals may be uniformly yellow. Large males may develop a bright yellow, orange, black, white, or multicolored patch on their sides behind their pectoral fins.[5]

Due to their adult size and diet, they are rarely kept in the aquarium.

Synonyms

These described species have all been determined to be junior synonyms of this species:[6]

References

  1. Cheung, W.W.L., Sadovy, Y. & Liu, M. 2010. Cheilio inermis. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 11 September 2013.
  2. http://eol.org/pages/994403/details#distribution
  3. http://eol.org/pages/994403/details#comprehensive_description
  4. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/5623
  5. http://eol.org/pages/994403/details#diagnostic_description
  6. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Cheilio inermis" in FishBase. August 2013 version.

External links

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