The ballan wrasse (''Labrus bergylta'') is a species of marine

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 found in 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 ...

, where it inhabits rocky areas. Like many wrasse species, it is 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, ...

—all fish start life as females, and some dominant fish later become males. It is used as a food fish in some areas and it is also finding use as a cleaner fish in the aquaculture of Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') in northwestern Europe.

Description

The ballan wrasse is a large, heavy bodied wrasse with a relatively deep body and large head. It has a smallish mouth which is surrounded by thick, fleshy, rather wrinkled lips, and the jaws are armed with a single row of robust teeth which are sharp and pointed in young fish but blunter and more worn in older fish. It has a long

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 c ...

which has 18–21 spines in its anterior portion and 9–13 branched rays in the rear part. The anal fin is markedly shorter and has three spines. It has large scales with 41–47 of them in the lateral line. The juvenile fish are coloured to match their habitat and vary in from light green to dark green, with some being described as bright emerald green. The adults are more variable in colour, as they can either be dark green or reddish brown but are marked all over with numerous white spots. It 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 ...

(though most do not exceed standard length), and the greatest recorded weight of this species is . Ballan wrasses are prototgynous hermaphrodites.

Distribution

Ballan wrasse are native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

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 t ...

, including the islands of Madeira, the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and the Canary Islands. There are records from 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 ...

but these are regarded as questionable and may be misidentifications of the brown wrasse (''Labrus merula'').

Habitat and biology

They can be found at depths from amongst rocks, seaweed and

reefs 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 ...

. All ballan wrasses are female for their first four to 14 years before a few change into males. Large fish of the species are almost certainly male. The thick lips and sharp front teeth of the ballan wrasse are an adaptation for extracting shellfish from rocks. These are supplemented by powerful

pharyngeal teeth Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species otherwise lacking teeth.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 and their diet includes hard-shelled crabs and small lobsters. They will swim into shallower water so that they can prey on the shellfish which cling to underwater cliff faces and inshore rocks. They will also inhabit areas with good covering 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 ...

and other seaweeds. The male builds a nest of algae in a crevice in the rocks in which one or more females lay eggs. The male defends the nest until the eggs hatch into

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 w ...

larvae after a week or two.

Human usage

This species is popular as a food fish in the Orkney Islands off the north-eastern coast of Scotland, and in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, a county in the west of Ireland. However, it is not highly regarded as a food fish in much of the UK and Ireland. In recent years, it has become a popular

catch-and-release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returned ...

target for sport fishermen using light

fishing tackle Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ k ...

, particularly those employing soft plastic lures. It is also used to remove

sea lice Sea lice (singular: sea louse) are copepods (small crustaceans) of the family Caligidae within the order Siphonostomatoida. They are marine ectoparasites (external parasites) that feed on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host fish. The ...

from Norwegian farmed

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

; with 3,317,000 fish used in Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout sea pens in 2020. The technique is also being developed in Scotland. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballan Wrasse

Ballan wrasse The ballan wrasse (''Labrus bergylta'') is a species of marine ray finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, where it inhabits rocky areas. Like many wrasse species, it is a protogynous hermap ...

Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1767 Taxa named by Peter Ascanius