Halichoeres semicinctus
Rock Wrasse
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Labridae (Wrasses)
Halichoeres
Halichoeres semicinctus (Rock Wrasse)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Point Conception in California, USA to Guadalupe Island (off north-central Baja California) and the Gulf of California in Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 0-24 m.
Biology
Found close to rocks near patches of sand and in tide pools. Dart into sand when disturbed and sleep at night buried in sand with head protruding. Feed on gastropods, small crustaceans and has been observed to pick ectoparasites from other fishes (Ref. 9311). Each individual functions first as female but changes to a male at length of about 30 cm. Pelagic spawners (Ref. 56049).
Max length: 38.0 cm TL; max age: 14 years.
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Pelagic spawner (Ref. 56049). Changes sex at 30 cm (Ref. 2850).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-23. Resilience: Medium (tm=2; tmax=14).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1975) Tidepool and nearshore fishes of California. California Natural History Guides:38. University of California Press, Berkelley and Los Angeles, California. 156 p.
Shanks, A.L. and G.L. Eckert (2005) Population persistence of California Current fishes and benthic crustaceans: a marine drift paradox. Ecol. Monogr. 75:505-524.
Comments On Halichoeres semicinctus