Halichoeres ornatissimus, Male, Mellish Reef, Coral Sea, Photo: Graham Edgar
Halichoeres ornatissimus, Juvenile, Mellish Reef, Coral Sea, Photo: Graham Edgar
Halichoeres ornatissimus, Female, Hawaii, USA, Photo: Graham Edgar
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Green body with broken, irregular red stripes, pale belly, black spot in centre of dorsal fin. Females with green scale centres surrounded by red edges on upper body, green stripe from above eye along back to tail base, pale belly and two ocelli on dorsal fin. Juveniles black with yellow stripes along body and two large blue centred ocelli on dorsal fin.
Information
Max Size: 18 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 24.0-30.0°C
Depth: 1-15m
Habitat: Coral Reef
Habitat Generalisation Index: 8
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
Rarity
IUCN Threat Status: Least Concern
Occurrence: Infrequent (8% 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: Several (5 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Copyright to the photographs on this site belongs solely to the credited photographers. Any requests for usage can be directed to the photographer through
[email protected].