Highly variable in appearance. Often two-toned with a darker red-brown upper side and light underside, but sometimes more uniformly pink-brown coloured (particularly in juveniles). Has small black spots on side, usually more dense above pectoral fin area. Smaller individuals often have a white-margined black spot (or just the white margin) on the body just below rear end of the dorsal fin and a white band around the caudal peduncle.... source: Reef Life Survey
| RLS profile v3 | |
| Depth: | 3-40 m |
| Habitat: | Rocky reef |
| IUCN_Threat_status: | Least Concern |
| Abundance: | 4.542 |
| Common_Name: | Blackspotted wrasse;Black-Spotted wrasse |
| Behaviour: | Sometimes curious, but usually ignorant of divers. Often hangs around close to cover or entrances to crevices. |
| Distribution: | Central to south-western and central to south-eastern Australia. |
| Threats: | No major threats to this species are known |
| Diet: | Benthic invertebrates |
| Life_History: | Little known about life history |
| Frequency: | 17.477 |
| Range: | 1597.014 |
| Commercial_Uses: | None, other than trivial captures for aquarium trade |
| Description: | Highly variable in appearance. Often two-toned with a darker red-brown upper side and light underside, but sometimes more uniformly pink-brown coloured (particularly in juveniles). Has small black spots on side, usually more dense above pectoral fin area. Smaller individuals often have a white-margined black spot (or just the white margin) on the body just below rear end of the dorsal fin and a white band around the caudal peduncle. |
| similar_species: | Can be similar to Pseudolabrus mortonii and the pink form of female senator wrasse. It's variability in appearance makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish, but best recognised by small black spots on body and often a white band around the caudal peduncle. The tail is always convex, unlike P. mortonii which has a truncate tail. |
| Invasive: | Not known to be invasive |
| Max_size: | 170 mm |
| Accepted name | Source |
|---|---|
| Austrolabrus maculatus |
| Synonyms | Source |
|---|---|
| Labrichthys maculata Macleay, 1881 | |
| Published in: Macleay, W.J. 1881. Descriptive catalogue of the fishes of Australia. Part 3. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Ser. 1 Vol. 6 (1) pp. 1-138 pls 1-2 | |
| Common name | Source |
|---|---|
| Blackspotted Wrasse | |
| Black-spotted Parrot Fish | |
| Black-spotted Wrasse | |
| Blackspotted Parrotfish |
View list of all occurrence records for this taxon
