Mediterranean rainbow wrasse

Mediterranean rainbow wrasse
Male in the coast of Cape Palos (Spain)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Genus: Coris
Species:
C. julis
Binomial name
Coris julis
Synonyms
List
  • Labrus julis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Julis julis (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Labrus paroticus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Labrus perdica Forsskål, 1775
  • Labrus infuscus Walbaum, 1792
  • Labrus subfuscus Bloch & Schneider, 1801
  • Labrus keslik Lacépède, 1801
  • Labrus cettii Rafinesque, 1810
  • Labrus giofredi Risso, 1810
  • Julis mediterranea Risso, 1827
  • Julis speciosa Risso, 1827
  • Coris speciosa (Risso, 1827)
  • Julis vulgaris J. Fleming, 1828
  • Julis melanura R. T. Lowe, 1839
  • Coris festiva (Valenciennes, 1839)
  • Julis vulgaris Valenciennes, 1839
  • Coris taeniatus Steindachner, 1863
  • Julis azorensis Fowler, 1919

The Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Coris julis) is a small, colourful fish in the family Labridae. It can be found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the northeast Atlantic Ocean from Sweden to Senegal (though it is a rare wanderer to the southern British Isles). Records of this species south from Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands are actually the closely related Coris atlantica.

It feeds on amphipods, isopods, sea urchins, polychaete, shrimps, and small gastropods.