[family Labridae]
Wrasses are generally tropical and subtropical fish that appeared about 65 million years ago just after extinction of the dinosaurs. Many smaller wrasses are "cleaner fish" which establish "cleaning stations" larger fish stop at to get parasites removed from inside their mouths and gills and from their skins. Some other "cleaner wrasses" make house calls to service shy fish or fish that don't travel much. Larger wrasses live on sea urchins, mollusks, lobsters, crabs and other hard shelled bottom creatures.
More on Varieties of Fish
(very large page).
[Iniistius baldwini alt Xyrichtys baldwini]
This is a Pacific fish, ranging from the Pacific side of Sumatra through Hawaii to the Gulf of California and along the tropical west coasts of North, Central and South America. It is found most intensely around Borneo and the north central coast of Australia, but ranges as far north as the southern tip of Japan.
This is a small fish. The largest in the batch was about 7-1/2 inches
long and weighed 2-7/8 ounces, about as big as they get. This fish is
amazingly thin, the 7-1/2 inch fish being only 0.7 inches thick. Colors and
patterns varied but most had the black and white spot displayed by the
center specimen.
Details and Cooking
[Semicossyphus pulcher ]
Found only from Monterey, California south to mid Baja California, this
fish can grow to almost 36 inches and 35 pounds but the photo specimen
was 16-1/2 inches and 2-1/2 pounds. The black coloration of the head and
darkening tail indicates this fish was completing the transition from
female to male (females are mostly red), which happens when a female
reaches a length of 12 inches. This long lived slow reproducing fish is
IUCN red listed as VU (Vulnerable) due to declining population.
Details and Cooking