Cheilinus chlorourus
White-dotted maori | Dotted Maori | Floral Maori Wrasse | Floral Wrasse | Redspotted Maori Wrasse | Yellowdotted Maori Wrasse
Cheilinus chlorourus, male, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cheilinus chlorourus, juvenile, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cheilinus chlorourus, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cheilinus chlorourus, juvenile, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Cheilinus chlorourus, juvenile, WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cheilinus chlorourus, QLD, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Distribution
Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Mottled grey-brown body with fine white spots on tail and sides, red lines and spots on face and white blotches on back and tail. Lacks row of larger black spots along rear mid-line, as on C. trilobatus (Tripletail Maori Wrasse). The latter also has fine vertical lines rather than spots all over body.
Information
Max Size: 45 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 21.4-31.2°C
Depth: 1-30m
Habitat Generalization Index: 23.71
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Least Concern
Occurrence: Common (29.4% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Few (2 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields