Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught off the beach at Buena Vista, Baja California Sur, May 2018. Length: 15.2 cm (6.0 inches).

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.  The first of these three photos is a difficult identification.  I have had productive discussions with Dr. Ben Victor, Coralreef.com. Dr. Victor believes their is a possibility that the specific fish is a Socorro Wrasse, Halichoeres insularis which is not known to be found south of Jalisco.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, February 2023. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught off the dock of the Old Mazatlán Marina, Sinaloa, April 2015. Length: 11.4 cm (4.5 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters of San José del Cabo Rió, Baja California Sur, April 2022. Length: 13.5 cm (5.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, April 2015. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, August 2020. Length: 12.7 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.word-press.com).

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, March 2016. Length: Length: 12.7 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.word-press.com).

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2017. Length: 12.9 cm (5.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.

The Chameleon Wrasse, Halichoeres dispilus, is a member of the Wrasse or Labridae Family, and is known in Mexico as señorita camaleón. Globally, there are seventy species in the genus Halichoeres, nineteen of which are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.

The Chameleon Wrasse has an elongated compressed body with a depth that is 26% to 29% of standard length. Their coloration varies from red to green and creates a cross-hatching pattern. Females and males of the Initial Phase (IP) are pinkish or greenish dorsally and white ventrally with a black-blue ringed blotch just below their third and fourth dorsal spines and a second blotch a little above the center of their caudal fin base. Their anal and dorsal fins have bands with alternating orange and light blue stripes. Their pectoral, pelvic, and caudal fins are transparent. Terminal Phase (TP) males are similar to IP individuals except that they have additional blue stripes on their head and sides and red and blue oblique stripes on their caudal fin. Juveniles are greenish dorsally and white ventrally with a mid-lateral white stripe and a small black spot at the base of their caudal fin. They have a small terminal mouth equipped with enlarged canine teeth at the front of both jaws (1 pair above and 2 pairs below). Their anal fin has 3 spines and 12 rays; their caudal fin is rounded; their dorsal fin has 9 spines and 11 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 13 rays. Their lateral line is abruptly bent down behind the dorsal fins.

The Chameleon Wrasses are found over sandy or rubble bottoms adjacent to reefs from within tidal pools at depths up to 76 m (250 feet). They reach a maximum of 25 cm (10 inches) in length. They are a solitary diurnal species that feeds on brittle stars, crabs, mollusks, and sea urchins. The Chameleon Wrasse is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Chameleon Wrasse is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Cedros Island, Baja California, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Chameleon Wrasse is one of the more difficult wrasses to identify because juveniles and females undergo major color transitions as they mature. It is similar to the Golden Wrasse, Halichoeres melanotis (no black blotches).

From a conservation perspective the Chameleon Wrasse is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are too rare and too small in stature to be of interest to most.