Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Initial Phase (IP) Females. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2018 and October 2019. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Initial Phase (IP) Female Transitioning to Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Underwater photograph taken off Isle Coronado, Baja California Sur, May 2023. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Initial Phase (IP) Female Transitioning to Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Initial Phase (IP) Female Transitioning to Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Buena Vista, East Cape, Baja California Sur, May 2010. Length: 15.0 cm (5.9 inches).
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Buena Vista, East Cape, Baja California Sur, May 2010. Length: 15.0 cm (5.9 inches).
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, March 2016. Length: 15.0 cm (5.9 inches).
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters of San José del Cabo Rió, Baja California Sur, April 2022. Length: 16.5 cm (6.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2018 and October 2019. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
The Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae, is a member of the Wrasse or Labridae Family, and is known in Mexico as señorita herida. Globally, there are seventy species in the genus Halichoeres, of which nineteen are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.
The Wounded Wrasse has an elongated compressed body with a depth that is 26% to 30% of standard length. Females and males of the Initial Phase (IP) are yellowish-green with a greenish-brown mid-lateral stripe intersecting with dark bars and blotches on the upper half of their body. Terminal Phase (TP) males are bluish with green blotches dorsally and yellow ventrally. They have a black blotch with a bright red patch just behind it, giving rise to their common name. Juveniles are whitish to yellow with irregular black stripes and blotches on their sides; they also have a small ocellated black spot on the middle of their dorsal fin. They have a small terminal mouth equipped with one pair of canine teeth at the front, another at the rear of their top jaw, and two pairs at the front of their bottom jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 12 rays; their caudal fin has a blunt end; their first dorsal fin has 9 spines; their second dorsal fin has 11 rays; and their pectoral fins have 13 rays. Their body is covered with large scales. Their lateral line is continuous and bends abruptly down under the second dorsal fin.
The Wounded Wrasse is are found in and around rocky and coral reefs and in sandy and rubble bottoms within tidal pools at depths up to 70 m (230 feet). They reach a maximum of 20.0 cm (7.9 inches) in length. They forage during the day and feed on brittle stars, crabs, mollusks, and sea urchins. The Wounded 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 Wounded Wrasse is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.
The Wounded Wrasse is not easily confused with any other species due to its unique “wound” marking, but is very similar in shape to the Banded Wrasse, Halichoeres notospilus and the Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi.
From a conservation perspective the Wounded 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.