''Oxyjulis californica'' 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

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

along the coasts of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. Its distribution extends from Salt Point in Sonoma County, California, to southern central Baja California, near

Cedros Island Cedros Island (''Isla de Cedros'', "island of cedars" in Spanish) is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the state of Baja California, Mexico. The dry and rocky island had a population of 1,350 in 2005 and has an area of which include ...

.Señorita, ''Oxyjulis californica'' (Günther).
Calisphere. University of California. 2011. It is a very common species; its common name in Spanish is ''señorita''. This fish can grow to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

.Señorita.
Animal Guide. Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2013.Señorita (''Oxyjulis californica'').
Animal Fact Files. BBC. 2005. Its body is fusiform, frequently described as " cigar-shaped".Fitch, J. E. and R. J. Lavenberg. ''Tidepool and Nearshore Fishes of California.'' University of California Press. 1975. pg. 79. It is brown or shiny bronzeSeñorita.
Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport. dorsally and orange on its sides, becoming paler ventrally. The base of the tail fin is mostly covered with a large black or chocolate brown spot. The mouth is small and it has protruding "buck teeth"Goodson, G. ''Fishes of the Pacific Coast: Alaska to Peru, Including the Gulf of California and the Galápagos Islands''. Stanford University Press. 1988. pg. 107. which it uses to scrape tiny invertebrate prey items off of

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwa ...

. This fish lives in near-coastal marine habitats, especially

kelp forest Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Ea ...

s and

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 o ...

s. It has been observed at depths of , but it generally lives at or less. It may cruise in a small school, but if threatened, it often retreats to the bottom, digging into the substrate to hide. It also rests on the bottom at night, burrowing in backwards so only its head sticks out of the substrate. The diet of the fish is composed of invertebrates, including

marine worm Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida (segmented worms), Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a ...

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...

ns,

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 can ...

s, dove snails, limpets,

fish larvae Ichthyoplankton (from Greek: ἰχθύς, , "fish"; and πλαγκτός, , "drifter") are the eggs and larvae of fish. They are mostly found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 metres deep, which is sometimes called the epi ...

, and squid. It may consume small amounts of seaweed. It also feeds on the ectoparasites of other fish. The ''señorita'' is a cleaner wrasse, a fish that grooms the parasites and other materials off the bodies of other fish. It may remove and eat ectoparasites such as bacteria, copepods, and

isopods Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and ...

. Parasites can constitute around half its total food intake.Côté, I. M. ''Evolution and Ecology of Cleaning Symbioses in the Sea''. In: Barnes, M., et al. ''Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review: Volume 38.'' Taylor and Francis. 2003. pg. 328. Sometimes when the ''señorita'' begins to clean one of its clients, a crowd of other fish will gather around to receive the service. Species that seek the ''señorita'' for a grooming include the

bat ray The bat ray (''Myliobatis californica'')Gill, T.N. (1865). "Note on the family of myliobatoids, and on a new species of ''Aetobatis''". ''Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y.'' 8, 135–138. is an eagle ray found in muddy or sandy sloughs, estuaries and ...

(''Myliobatis californica''),

giant sea bass The giant sea bass (''Stereolepis gigas'') is a fish native to the North Pacific Ocean. Although commonly referred to as a giant sea bass, black sea bass or giant black sea bass, it is actually a wreckfish in the family Polyprionidae rather than ...

(''Stereolepis gigas''),

kelp bass ''Paralabrax clathratus'', the kelp bass, bull bass or calico bass, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, classified as part of the family Serranidae which includes the groupers and anthias. It is foun ...

(''Paralabrax clathratus''),

jacksmelt ''Atherinopsis californiensis'', the jack silverside or jacksmelt,Leo PinkasCalifornia Marine Fish Landings For 1972 and Designated Common Names of Certain Marine Organisms of California fish bulletin 161, Marine Resources Region, 1974 is a speci ...

(''Atherinopsis californiensis''),

topsmelt The topsmelt silverside (''Atherinops affinis''), also known as the topsmelt, is a species of Neotropical silverside native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Description The topsmelt silverside is a small, slim fish with a dorsally flattened body ...

(''Atherinops affinis''),

sargo The sargo or white seabream (''Diplodus sargus'') is a species of seabream native to the eastern Atlantic and western Indian Oceans. It is found from the Bay of Biscay southwards to South Africa, including Madeira and the Canary Islands, the Med ...

(''Diplodus sargus''),

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

(''Chromis punctipinnis''),

garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

(''Hypsypops rubicundus''), opaleye (''Girella nigricans''), halfmoon (''Medialuna californiensis''), and mola (''Mola mola''). The other fish may solicit the cleaning with their behavior. The garibaldi extends its

gill slit Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys. In con ...

s to give the señorita access to parasites on its gills. The blacksmith points its head down to encourage the cleaner,Allen, L. G. and M. H. Horn. ''The Ecology of Marine Fishes: California and Adjacent Waters''. University of California Press. 2006. pg. 557. and many blacksmith at a time may mob it, competing for its attention. They may even block its escape if it tries to leave the scene. The opaleye is usually constantly swimming, but it will stop and hold still if it meets a señorita. The kelp bass, a predator of small fish, will often refrain from eating the ''señorita'', and let it clean. While the ''señorita'' will often clean large, predatory fish, it is not always safe. It has been observed in the diet of the kelp bass, the bocaccio (''Sebastes paucispinis''), and the starry rockfish (''S. constellatus''), but it is not consumed as often as would be expected, considering its frequent close contact with predators. It might be unpalatable. Predators that do eat the fish include Brandt's cormorant (''Phalacrocorax penicillatus'') and the

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...

(''Zalophus californianus''). The reproductive biology of this fish is not well known. Some sources suggest it may be 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, ...

, with the female able to change sex and become male, while others doubt this occurs in this species.

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

occurs in May through August. The eggs are pelagic, floating suspended in the water. The fish tends to return to favorite locations; in one experiment,'' señoritas'' were caught and then released a distance away, and most found their way back to their original home ranges.Hartney, K. B. (1996)
Site fidelity and homing behaviour of some kelp-bed fishes.
''Journal of Fish Biology'' 49(6) 1062-69. Fishermen generally do not seek this species as quarry, and it can be an annoyance when it steals bait off hooks. While technically edible, it is not valuable as a food fish.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2607702 Labridae Fauna of the Baja California Peninsula Fauna of California Monotypic marine fish genera Taxa named by Theodore Gill