Green-blocked wrasse

Description

The surge wrasse is a large wrasse of the family Labridae from the Indo-Pacific. The species grows to about 46 cm; large males are handsomely green with red-purple bands and stripes over head and body, while females and juveniles are plainer. As the name says it occurs almost exclusively in the turbulent surge zone of outer reef flats and reef margins, where few other fishes endure. As a bottom predator it feeds on crustaceans, molluscs, sea urchins and small fishes. Like many wrasses it is a protogynous hermaphrodite: it begins as a female and can later become a male. The species is harmless to humans.