Green and magenta, with a yellow crescent moon on the tail that gives it the name, and the least shy fish on the reef. Moon wrasses follow divers, inspect cameras, and hang around anything being disturbed, because disturbance means food.
Big terminal males are aggressive to a degree that is unusual for a wrasse. They hold territories, chase off other males, harass smaller fish, and are quite willing to attack prey nearly their own size - moon wrasses have been recorded taking small fish, eggs and juveniles of other species with a persistence that makes them a problem in aquariums.
They are also opportunists at spawning aggregations of other species, arriving in numbers to eat the eggs while the spawners are occupied.
Like other wrasses this one starts female and changes to male, and the change comes with a complete color rework. Forty-five centimeters (18 in) at the extreme; most fish are half that.
The genus. Thalassoma Swainson 1839 - thalassinus (sea-green) + soma (body). ETYFish
The species. Thalassoma lunare (Linnaeus 1758) - of the moon. ETYFish
- green body with magenta bands across each scale, giving a netted look
- yellow crescent moon on the tail, brighter in large males
- magenta band through the pectoral fin base
- length up to 45 cm
Why it's threatened
There are no major threats known for this species, although it is taken by fish traps, hook and line and monofilament traps and sold for food and is also collected for the aquarium trade.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
