The blackear wrasse (''Halichoeres poeyi'') 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 ...

, a type of fish in the family Labridae, from the warmer waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The blackear wrasse has a relatively long, thin body, a large eye, and a pointed snout with a terminal mouth which has protruding canine-like teeth. The pectoral fins extend to the vent. It has wide pink bands and a narrow blue stripe on the head and tail and there is a dark spot behind the eye which gives it the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

blackear wrasse. The background color of the head and body is olive with pinkish-red lined scales. The margin of 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 ...

is blue and orange and 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 ...

is dull yellow with diagonally converging blue and rose lines. The males and females are similarly patterned but males are larger than females. There is another black spot on the spine near the origin of the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin has 9 spines and 11 soft rays; the

anal 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 ...

has 3 spines and 12 soft rays. The maximum size of ''H. poeyi'' is around in length.

Distribution

The blackear wrasse is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from southern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

to Santa Catarina in southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Biology

''Halichoeres poeyi'' occurs in coral and rocky reefs and also in seagrass, especially

turtle grass ''Thalassia testudinum'', commonly known as turtlegrass, is a species of Marine (ocean), marine seagrass. It forms meadows in shallow sandy or muddy locations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Turtle grass and other seagrasses form sea ...

(''Thalassia testudinum'') beds at around in depth. It is frequently encountered in areas rich in algae as well. This species is strictly diurnal in nature and is lethargic during the hours of darkness. It feeds mainly on invertebrates such as

decapods The Decapoda or decapods (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estim ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

s and

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

s. It is assumed that sea urchins are scavenged after they are predated by larger predatory fish. This wrasse is a sequential

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, ...

: every individual begins life as a females but some fish change sex from female to male as they grow. The average body length at which this takes place is 8.3 cm. The males gather in

leks A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...

and display showily in an effort to attract females and is this unusual among the wrasses as in most other species the males form

harems Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

. Larval ''H. poeyi'' are long and thin and have a small mouth and small pelvic fins. ''H. poeyi'' is the only species of ''

Halichoeres ''Halichoeres'', commonly called wrasses, are a genus of fishes in the family Labridae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.Victor, B.C., Alfaro, M.E. & Sorenson, L. (2013)Rediscovery of ''Sagittalarva inornata'' n. gen., n. comb. (G ...

'' where the larvae develop internal, specialised,

chromatophores Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are Biological pigment, pigment-containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and ...

Uses

This fish is generally of little interest to fisheries due to its small size but it is traded in the aquarium trade. In Brazil a quota has been imposed since 2004 on companies who catch this species for that trade. The quota is 1,000 fish per year per company.

Taxonomy

The blackear wrasse was first formally described in 1867 by the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Franz Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian Zoology, zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachne ...

. The specific name honours the

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

ichthyologist

Felipe Poey Felipe Poey (May 26, 1799 – January 28, 1891) was a Cuban zoologist. Biography Poey was born in Havana, the son of French and Spanish parents. He spent several years (1804 to 1807) of his life in Pau then studied law in Madrid. He became a ...

(1799–1891), who described a similar species, '' Halichoeres pictus'', in 1860.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2161239 poeyi Taxa named by Franz Steindachner Fish described in 1867 Fish of North America Fish of South America