Menu
Home Explore People Places Arts History Plants & Animals Science Life & Culture Technology
On this page
Labrus
Genus of fishes

Labrus is a genus of wrasses native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean and Black seas.

Related Image Collections Add Image
Profiles
1 Image
We don't have any YouTube videos related to Labrus yet.
We don't have any PDF documents related to Labrus yet.
We don't have any Books related to Labrus yet.
We don't have any archived web articles related to Labrus yet.

Biology

Like most wrasses, Labrus species are protogynous, and can undergo sex change from female to male. The form of protogyny differs between species, e.g., Labrus bergylta is monandric (all fish are born female but can develop into males), while Labrus mixtus is diandric (individuals can be born either male or female, and females can develop into males).2 L. mixtus is sexually dimorphic in colouration, while L. bergylta is not.34

Species

The four currently recognized species in this genus are:5

SpeciesCommon nameTerminal phase
Labrus bergylta

Ascanius, 1767

Ballan wrasse
Labrus merula

Linnaeus, 1758

brown wrasse
Labrus mixtus

Linnaeus, 1758

cuckoo wrasse
Labrus viridis

Linnaeus, 1758

green wrasse

Fossil record

Fossils of Labrus are found from the Eocene to the Quaternary (age range: from 55.8 to 0.781 million years ago.). They are known from various localities of France, Italy and the United Kingdom.6

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Labrus.

References

  1. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Labrus". FishBase. August 2013 version. /wiki/Rainer_Froese ↩

  2. Dipper, F. A.; Pullin, R. S. V. (1979). "Gonochorism and sex-inversion in British Labridae (Pisces)". Journal of Zoology. 187 (1): 97–112. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb07716.x. ISSN 1469-7998. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb07716.x ↩

  3. Villegas-Ríos, David; Alonso-Fernández, Alexandre; Domínguez-Petit, Rosario; Saborido-Rey, Fran (2013). "Intraspecific variability in reproductive patterns in the temperate hermaphrodite fish, Labrus bergylta". Marine and Freshwater Research. 64 (12): 1156. doi:10.1071/MF12362. ISSN 1323-1650. http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MF12362 ↩

  4. Dipper, F. A.; Pullin, R. S. V. (1979). "Gonochorism and sex-inversion in British Labridae (Pisces)". Journal of Zoology. 187 (1): 97–112. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb07716.x. ISSN 1469-7998. https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb07716.x ↩

  5. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Labrus". FishBase. August 2013 version. /wiki/Rainer_Froese ↩

  6. Paleobiology Database https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36063 ↩