A long, slender, dark green wrasse ringed in pale bands, cruising a few centimeters above open sand at a steady pace and covering a lot of ground.
The juveniles are orange-red with a white side stripe and look like a different animal entirely - a mistake made formally more than once in the history of the group, and one anyone repeats on their first dive.
That cigar shape is the family's fast-swimming build. Where most wrasses row with their pectoral fins, this genus uses the tail and moves properly, which is how it works large areas of open bottom for small crustaceans and fish without being caught out in the open.
And like its relatives it sleeps buried in sand, diving in at dusk. Forty centimeters (16 in), rarely still, and usually seen from behind.
The genus. Hologymnosus Lacepède 1801 - holos (whole or entire) + gymnosus (bare or naked). ETYFish
The species. Hologymnosus annulatus (Lacepède 1801) - ringed. ETYFish
- long cigar-shaped body, far more slender than most wrasses
- adults dark green with narrow pale rings around the body
- juveniles bright orange-red with a white stripe along the side
- length up to 40 cm
Why it's threatened
There are no major threats known for this species, although it is captured in local subsistance fisheries in the Pacific and is collected as bycatch for the aquarium trade.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
