Comb wrasse
species of fish
The comb wrasse or combfish (Coris picta) is a species of wrasse of the genus Coris, native to the western Pacific Ocean off eastern Australia and around offshore islands off north eastern New Zealand. This species can be found in areas with sandy substrates around rock reefs at depths from 3 to 25 m (9.8 to 82.0 ft). It can reach 25 cm (9.8 in) in total length. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Description
The combfish has a long, white body with a prominent, wide, black stripe from its mouth across its eye along the body to the end of the tail. The lower margin of the stripe is wavy and comb-like, giving the fish its common name. The portion of the stripe on the tail fin turns yellow during the breeding season. Also, a thin, red stripe runs along the top of the body from the mouth, along the base of the dorsal fin, for the fin's full length.
Biology
Comb wrasses often act as cleaners and some get most of their food in this way. The contrasting colour pattern with its cleaning signal stripe acts as a strong attraction to many other reef fish, and they are often surrounded by groups of fishes waiting to be cleaned.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q933426. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Comb wrasse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.