Wrasses

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Q 1.
	Is it true that some fishes bury themselves in the sand at night?
Q 2.
	How did the hagfish get its name?
Q 3.
	How did the hogfish get its name?
Q 4.
	While diving off Grand Cayman in 30 feet of water, I saw a Spanish hogfish (Bodianus rufus) attack and devour a black, long-spined sea urchin (Diadema). How could the fish do this without getting spines in it?
Q 5.
	Is the bergall, which is caught in the Atlantic along with sea bass and tautog, edible?
Q 6.
	While diving on a bed of garden eels in 15 meters of water near Grand Turk Island, I noticed the two unusual fish shown in these photographs. Although different in appearance, the fish behaved similarly: they stayed in the area of the garden eels at a height of no more than 1 meter above the sand. When closely approached, they disappeared in an instant by diving headfirst into the sand. Can you identify these fish?
Q 7.
	Near Little Cayman Island, West Indies, we saw about ten pairs of creole wrasses swimming rapidly in circles. Were they involved in a mating ritual?
Q 8.
	I am interested in running experiments on whether wrasses depend on time or the amount of light for burying themselves in sand. Can you provide some information?


_{-- a n s w e r s a b o u t W r a s s e s --}
	Q&A 1.	Is it true that some fishes bury themselves in the sand at night?
	Yes. The best-known among these are the puffers (Tetraodontidae), and the wrasses (Labridae), both of which will often conceal themselves in the sand during the daytime. The puffers bury themselves with a rapid, sidewise movement of the body and tail, leaving only the eyes and a portion of the back exposed. Wrasses often bury themselves completely for the night, and several specimens kept in an aquarium tank will disappear completely on the approach of darkness.
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	Q&A 2.	How did the hagfish get its name? Nassau, Bahamas
	The name "hogfish" probably is due to the swine-like appearance of the head, jaws, and teeth of the fish. The "hogfish" is one of the larger members of the Wrasse family (Labridae) and many names have been applied to it, for example: "perro perro," "el capitan," and more often, "hog snapper."
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	Q&A 3.	How did the hogfish get its name? Newport, Rhode Island
	The hogfish, which is also called "perro-perro" and "el capitan," probably was given this name because of the swine-like appearance of its head, jaws, and teeth. One of the larger members of the Wrasse family, the species is common throughout the West Indies to Key West and Bermuda. It is usually found around rocky reefs where it feeds on smaller fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. Although the hogfish is not a commercial species, it is sought by sports fishermen because it is "good eating. "
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	Q&A 4.	While diving off Grand Cayman in 30 feet of water, I saw a Spanish hogfish (Bodianus rufus) attack and devour a black, long-spined sea urchin (Diadema). How could the fish do this without getting spines in it? Houston, Texas
	The hogfish, as well as several other large predatory fishes, can successfully attack sea urchins by (a) attacking from the relatively unprotected underside and (b) being very careful. Even so, many older hogfish bear scars from past spines that had penetrated and dissolved around their mouths and jaws.
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	Q&A 5.	Is the bergall, which is caught in the Atlantic along with sea bass and tautog, edible? Union, New Jersey
	Yes. The cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus), also called bergall, has tasty (albeit bony) flesh and, unlike its larger relative the tautog, it does not have to be skinned. According to The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery by A. J. McClane (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), cunner is best cooked by pan-frying or oven-frying, whole and dressed. The cunner is a member of the wrasse family. A bottom dweller, this small species inhabits coastal waters from Newfoundland to Chesapeake Bay and is taken in great numbers, particularly in the New York to Cape Cod region, by anglers fishing off docks and rock pilings.
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	Q&A 6.	While diving on a bed of garden eels in 15 meters of water near Grand Turk Island, I noticed the two unusual fish shown in these photographs. Although different in appearance, the fish behaved similarly: they stayed in the area of the garden eels at a height of no more than 1 meter above the sand. When closely approached, they disappeared in an instant by diving headfirst into the sand. Can you identify these fish? Richmond, Virginia
	Both fish pictured are the straight-tail razorfish (Xyrichtys martinicensis), a member of the wrasse family Labridae. The greenish blue fish with a golden head is the adult, which grows to about 15 centimeters. The young, probably female, is pale above with a rosy suffusion below and has very distinctive pattern. The species is distinguished by a dark pectoral axil that is absent in other species of razorfish. Observation of straight-tail razorfish in a bed of garden eels at a depth of about 15 meters in the Bahamas is reported on page 463 of Fishes of the Bahamas and Adjacent TroPical Waters above the marly, sand bottom and, when approached, dived into tiny pits in the sand. The straight-tail razorfish inhabits waters from the Bahamas to Curacao, Lesser Antilles and west to Yucatan, Mexico. Re: the January-February 1989 Sea Frontiers, Volume 35 #1, page 57" question #4067: the top photo is a mature male; the bottom photo is a mature female straight-tail, or rosy, razorfish. My source of information is my experience in assisting a biologist (Dr. Eugenie Clark -- but the responsibility for this identification is mine!) studying Bonaire's razorfish, and also John E. Randall's Caribbean Reef Fishes. I've seen these fish spawning numerous times.
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	Q&A 7.	Near Little Cayman Island, West Indies, we saw about ten pairs of creole wrasses swimming rapidly in circles. Were they involved in a mating ritual? Peoria, Illinois
	The Creole wrasses (Clepticus parrai) may have been spawning. They feed in schools, but spawn in pairs. Swimming behavior and the coloration of the males also provide indications of the activities of these fish. During courtship, a male first chases a female over the reef. If she is receptive, she will slow down so that the male can push her toward the water surface. If she resists, he must swim around her to maintain his position, and the pair ends up swimming in circles. Eventually, he gets her to the surface, where she releases a cloud of eggs that he fertilizes. Throughout courtship, the rear half of the male is yellow-orange and the front half is almost black, rather than the normal, uniform dark blue. Like other wrasses, the Creole wrasse is a protogynous hermaphrodite-it is a female when small and becomes a male when it grows larger. The creole wrasse, a plankton eater, often feeds in large schools of several hundred individuals. The streamlined shape of this fish attests to its swimming speed and agility, and its mostly blue coloration indicates its open-water life-style.
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	Q&A 8.	I am interested in running experiments on whether wrasses depend on time or the amount of light for burying themselves in sand. Can you provide some information? Cherry Hill, New Jersey
	The habit of burying themselves at night in sand is not verified in all wrasses. Bahamian cigar-shaped wrasses and some Hawaiian species are known to do so. Razorfishes also bury themselves at night and, during the day, will dive into the sand to escape predators and may burrow through it, emerging some distance away from their point of entry. There is little information of the behavior of wrasses alone, but the following references should be helpful: The Life of Fishes by N.B. Marshall (Universe Books, N.Y., 1970) and The Ways of Fishes by L.P. Schultz and E.M. Stern (D. Van Nostrand Co., N.Y., 1948).
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