| Sandager's wrasse | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conservation status | |
 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Labriformes |
| Family: | Labridae |
| Genus: | Coris |
| Species: | C. sandeyeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Coris sandeyeri (Hector, 1884) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Sandager's wrasse (Coris sandeyeri) is a species of wrasse native to the southwestern Pacific Ocean ranging from Australia to New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands. This species can be found on reefs down to depths of about 60 metres (200 ft). It can reach a length of 25 centimetres (9.8 in) TL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Behavior
The wrasses live in small shoals consisting of one male and several 'attendant' females and juveniles. In the presence of the male, all juveniles will grow into females, but when the male dies or is removed from the shoal, the group's dominant female then undergoes physiological changes to convert herself into a male. (Greenwood. T., et al., 2012)
Sexual dimorphism
The male fish has a deeper body, and differs significantly in colouration. For example, the male has very distinctive bands, whereas the female is paler in colour and only has 2 dark spots.(Greenwood. T. et al., 2012)
Apparent Mismatch between Common Name and Scientific Name
The fish was named after Andreas Fleming Stewart Sandager, a lighthouse keeper in New Zealand who collected the first specimen. As the scientific name has sandeyeri as the specific epithet, a proposal was made in 1927 to change it to "sandageri" on the theory that the original description constituted a misspelling. However, in 2011, it was shown that "Sandager" was also spelled "Sandeyer" at that time and thus that the original spelling of the scientific name should stand.
References
- Choat, J.H.; Pollard, D. (2010). "Coris sandeyeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T187773A8626962. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T187773A8626962.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Coris sandeyeri". FishBase. August 2019 version.
- Russell, Barry (2011-10-18). "Coris sandageri, an unjustified emendation of Coris sandeyeri (Hector 1884) (Pisces, Labridae)". Zootaxa. 3061 (1): 67–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3061.1.4. Archived from the original on 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- Greenwood. T., et al., (2012), OCR Biology A2 2012, Hamilton: Biozone International Ltd., pg. 155
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Coris sandeyeri | |
| Cymolutes sandeyeri | |