Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiatus

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa Florida, March 2019. Length:  14 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught out of coastal waters off Sugarloaf Key, Florida, August 2014. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught out of coastal waters off Key West, Florida, June 2015. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught out of coastal waters off Key West, Florida, June 2015. Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Underwater photograph taken with coastal waters off Cozumel Island, Quintana Roo, March 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase Female (IP) Transitioning to Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa Florida, March 2019. Length:  18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Initial Phase Female (IP) Transitioning to Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Marathon, Florida, December 2015. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.word-press.com).

Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiates, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Deerfield Beach, Florida, December 2020. Length: 46 cm (18 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

The Puddingwife, Halichoeres radiatus, is a member of the Wrasse or Labridae Family, and is known in Mexico as doncella azulada. 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 Puddingwife has anelliptical moderately compressed bodies with a depth that is 27% to 35% of standard length; more mature fish have wider bodies. They are colorful fish varying from blue to green with a yellowish caudal fin margin. Their body is covered with short light blue lines and their head has blue scrawls. They have a dark spot at the base of their pectoral fin. Females (Initial Phase) are yellowish-green to bluish-green with areas of yellow-gold. Their upper back has five white bars and one or two black rectangular areas behind to the rear of the last bars. Terminal Phase (TP) Males are darker blue-green with diminished bars; mature fish only have two blotches. Their head has a similar upper and lower rounded profile. They have 2 pairs of enlarged canine teeth on their lower jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 12 rays; their caudal fin is rounded; and, their dorsal fin has 9 spines and 11 rays. They have 16 to 18 gill rakers. Their body is covered with large scales. Their their lateral line is continuous with an abrupt downward bend under the dorsal rays.

The Puddingwife is a coastal resident found within patch reef and rocky structures at depths up to 50 m (165 feet). Juveniles are found in shallower waters than adults. They reach a maximum of 51 cm (20 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 1.67 kg (3 lbs 11 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Southport, North Carolina, July 2023. They feed diurnally on small crustaceans, sea urchins, mollusks, and brittle stars. The Puddingwife 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 Puddingwife is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Puddingwife is an easy fish to identify due to the banding pattern along the top of its back. They are very similar in appearance to the Banded Wrasse, Halichoeres notospilus, found only in the Pacific Ocean.

From a conservation perspective the Puddingwife is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are sold on a limited basis as fresh fish and also used by the aquarium trade on a limited basis.