The goldsinny wrasse (''Ctenolabrus rupestris'') is a species of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a

wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them le ...

from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Labridae which is native to the eastern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and associated seas. This species is the only known member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Description

The goldsinny wrasse can reach a

total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

length of , though most do not exceed . Its coloration is brown, greenish or orange-red and there are two noticeable dark spots which readily identify it from other eastern Atlantic wrasses, one on the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

and one situated on the caudal peduncle immediately in front of the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. It has a slender body with a small, pointed head and large eyes. The large, fleshy lipped mouth is equipped with two rows of small teeth in each jaw.

Distribution

The goldsinny wrasse is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway south as far as Morocco. It is also found throughout the western and central

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

as far as

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

in Turkey, but it is absent from the far eastern Mediterranean. It extends through the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

into the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Habitat and biology

The goldsinny wrasse is normally found in areas dominated by rock or by boulders and requires there to be many crevices for it to hide in. It is most frequently recorded at depths of between but it is infrequently recorded in rockpools near the low water mark. Their diet consists of bryozoan, small

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s and

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s. it is often associated with beds of algae and eelgrass. These wrasses attain maturity at two years of age, with the life span being up to eight years, and they do not display

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. spawning takes place from the winter into summer. When breeding the males defend

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

. Spawning happens in mid water and when the

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

eggs hatch the larvae are

planktonic Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

Human uses

The goldsinny wrasse is fond of sea lice and has been used to clean salmon in commercial farms together with the Ballan wrasse. Both these wrasses are not easy to retain in the salmon farms, as they escape through the nets, being significantly smaller than the salmon. This species is caught as a food fish by local indigenous peoples and is popular as a game fish. It is also a popular fish for display in public aquaria.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q953316

goldsinny wrasse The goldsinny wrasse (''Ctenolabrus rupestris'') is a species of ray-finned fish, a wrasse from the family Labridae which is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and associated seas. This species is the only known member of its genus. Descripti ...

Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the North Sea Marine fish of Europe