Baillon's wrasse (''Symphodus bailloni'') 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 from the British Isles and Belgium to

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

and the western Mediterranean Sea along the coast of Spain and around the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

. This species inhabits areas with plentiful weed growth or around rocks at depths from . It can reach in standard length, though usually not exceeding . The British Record (rod caught) for the heaviest fish is 285 grams caught in Poole Bay, Dorset on 3 September 2018 by David Lynes It is caught for human consumption in

artisanal fisheries Artisanal fishing (or traditional/subsistence fishing) consists of various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households (as opposed to commercial fishing). Many of these households are o ...

References

Baillon's wrasse Fish of West Africa Marine fish of Europe Fauna of Spain Baillon's wrasse {{labridae-stub