From top; Cuckoo Wrasse, male, Cuckoo Wrasse, female, Ballan wrasse, Corkwing wrasse, Illustration by Olof Gylling (1850-1928)
Labrus mixta (the Cuckoo Wrasse ) is a medium size wrasse living in rocky areas in Atlantic waters. The male and female have different colouration. The male colouration changes during the breeding season. At the start the head is blue with a blue body and orange pattern and blue tail. The body colouration gradually changes to an orange head and body with a blue pattern that may is more pronounced at the head. The female has an orange head, body and tail with a black stripe on the dorsal fin broken up by a number of white spots. The female has the ability to change sex when there are no males present in the area. The Ballan wrasse or simply wrasse, Labrus bergylta, is a wrasse of the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Its maximum length is 66 cm. All Ballan wrasse are female for their first eight years before a few change into males. Large Ballans are almost certainly male. It is popular as a food fish in the Orkney Islands and in Galway. the Corkwing wrasse (Symphodus (or Crenilabrus) melops) is a coastal wrasse, a fish of European waters. its body is deep and compressed sideways with a single, long dorsal fin. it is usually about 15cm long but has reached 25cm. It is highly variable in colour, depending on the environment and age thaga of the fish. Corkwing wrasse have a black spot in the middle of the tail stalk, and a comma shaped spot behind the eye. The black spot fades, to be obscured by dark, vertical stripes, when the fish is sleeping or threatened. Females and juveniles tend to be brown or greenish-brown, while the male is typically more brightly coloured. Both sexes have lines on the head and gill covers which are brown and pale blue in the female, bright green or blue in the male.
Size: 3545px × 4961px
Photo credit: © markku murto/art / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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