Rock cook

Biology

This wrasse, with a colouration that varies between green, blue, purple, orange and yellow, inhabits shallow areas of eelgrass beds and near rocks, where it feeds on small invertebrates and also cleans parasites from other fish. It feeds on small molluscs and crustaceans, and the juveniles sometimes eat parasites off other fish, cleaning them.

Conservation

Like all coastal marine species, habitat alterations may prove to be a threat.

Curiosities

Females lay their eggs in 'nests' of fine algae in rock crevices during summer months.