''Halichoeres zulu'', the Kwa-Zulu Natal wrasse, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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, the

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 ...

s. It is native to the south western Indian Ocean. It was first described in 2010.

Description

''Halichoeres zulu'' is characterized its naked head which has no small scales on the opercle or to the rear of the eye. In alcohol the colour of the female is pale tan with the scales on upper two-thirds of body, to the rear of the

pectoral 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 ...

s, have brown centres, while the scales below the soft part 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 ...

are dark brown, as are those in the lowermost scale row. There are three wide sooty bars on the chest and abdomen which fade towards the belly. The opercular flap has a black spot shaped like a

quotation mark Quotation marks (also known as quotes, quote marks, speech marks, inverted commas, or talking marks) are punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an ...

at upper end of gill slit and a dark brown spot of a similar size to the pupil is behind the upper part of the eye. The snout has an angled dark band with another over the cheek and the gill cover which is long and horseshoe-shaped band with dark edges. There are an oblique brown bands on the dorsal fin with a small black spot on between the first two spines and a black eye-spot between second and fourth dorsal fin rays. There are small dark spots on the rays of the rounded tail fin. The male shows a similar patterning, although most of the markings are darker than the females and there no black spot near the front of the dorsal fin and no oblique bands in spiny part of it. The male has a sinuous dark band at the base of

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 ...

with a wavy dusky band and a light spot at base of each membrane in that fin. Females are mainly pink or lavender-pink, in life, with narrow pale green bands and a bright red stripe on nape, this extends to the rear part of the dorsal fin. There is also a row of small, dark brown spots on the flanks above the

. The males have deep pink and bright green bands on their heads and they have sinuous stripes of bright green and purplish red which alternate on their bodies. This species can reach in standard length.

Distribution

''Halichoeres zulu'' ranges from the northern

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

to Banganek which is just south of the mouth of Kosi Bay in northern KwaZulu Natal. It is expected that it will also be found in southern Mozambique.

Habitat and biology

''Halichoeres zulu'' occurs solitarily at depths from along rocky shores, where there are patches of sand and coral. The shallow-water habitat off rocky shores in which this species is found are exposed to the wind and the waves, making it difficult to obtain specimens and this combined with its similarity to ''H. nebulosus'', its rarity and elusive nature meant that it was previously overlooked.

Taxonomy and naming

''Halichoeres zulu'' was described in 2010 by John Ernest Randall & Dennis R. King with the type locality given as Umhlanga Rocks in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

refers to the

Zulu people Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

who are indigenous to KwaZulu-Natal. This rare species was formerly misidentified as ''

Halichoeres nebulosus The nebulous wrasse (''Halichoeres nebulosus'') is a species of wrasse native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It can be found in groups at depths from on reef flats. This species feeds on fish eggs and benthic invertebrates, i ...

'', and is a close relative of the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

Halichoeres margaritaceus ''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 ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5623581 zulu Marine fish of South Africa Taxa named by John Ernest Randall Fish described in 2010