''Labrus viridis'' (the green wrasse) is a species of

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 ...

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 ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, as well as through the

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 ...

to 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 ...

. This species is found around rocky

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s amongst the rocks or in eelgrass beds. It can reach in standard length, though most do not exceed . It is one of several species called green wrasse.

Description

The green wrasse grows to about and is a plump fish with a moderately large head. The eyes are large and the nostrils each have a double opening. The lips are thick and the mouth fairly small, with numerous large teeth. The back is slightly humped, and the belly is slightly convex. The skin is covered with large scales and is smooth and soft, being covered with

mucus Mucus ( ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both serous and mucous cells. It is ...

. 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 ...

has 18 spines and 12 soft rays. The pectoral fins are large and the caudal fin undivided. In most individuals the colour is bright green with a blue line running along the flank, but some individuals are almost entirely black while others are spotted.

Distribution

The green wrasse is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and Morocco, and most of the Mediterranean Sea, although it seems to be absent from the waters of Syria, Lebanon and Israel. It is also present in the western

. Its depth range is down to about . Its typical habitat is in the vicinity of rocky reefs, especially those well-covered with seaweed, and

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

Ecology

The green wrasse can occur in small groups but is more often found singly or in pairs. It feeds on small fish,

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 other

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s. It is probably a

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

, that is it starts life as a female but at some stage changes its sex to male. This means that male fish are normally larger than females. A breeding pair of fish will prepare a dish-shaped nest among vegetation, and the adhesive eggs laid by the female are guarded and cared for by the male. The age of attaining maturity is probably three years, and the fish may live for twenty years.

Status

This fish is generally uncommon. It is caught for food, including spearfishing for sport, and the total population is in decline, especially in the western Mediterranean, with fishing being a threat in all parts of its range. Additionally, its habitat is being degraded as seagrass meadows disappear, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as " vulnerable".

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2470153 viridis Fish described in 1758 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Black Sea Fish of Europe Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of Western Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus