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  Corkwing Wrasse
 
 

Photograph by Andy Horton

Common Name(s): Corkwing Wrasse Conner (now used for  another species), Goldfinny (by mistake for the Goldsinny) Scientific Name: Symphodus melops (=Crenilabrus)  Family: Labridae  Usual Size: 15 cm, sometimes to 25 cm.

 
 
 

Identification:   The top photograph shows the Corkwing Wrasse in its swimming livery. The black spot in the centre preceding the caudal fin is definitive. No other British wrasse has a round spot in the same position.  When sleeping at night the Corkwing Wrasse adopts a different appearance. The definitive black spot is obscured by vertical black bars as shown in the photograph, which is the same fish as in the top photograph. The sleeping livery is how this fish changes colour when in danger and it is how it looks when captured in a net. This has caused a great deal of confusion to novice rockpoolers, who think they have two different species. Small Ballan Wrasse are also caught in shore pools. Similar species:  Rock Cook*, Centrolabrus exoletus & Green-eyed Wrasse, Crenilabrus ocellatus. The latter fish is only found in the Mediterranean and can be readily distinguished from the Corkwing, by its brightly coloured gill covers. There are several other very similar Crenilabrus species in the Mediterranean. Crenilabrus bailloni.  (* perhaps from from the Cornish cucu) Scientific Illustrations (link to)   Breeding:  Nest builder. In breeding colours, the black spot tends to be obscured by its bright colours. Habitat: Rocky shallow seas with seaweeds   July 2007 Corkwing Wrasse at Brown's Bay, north of Cullercoats, Tyneside, in NE England. Photograph by Pam & George Johnson Food: Range: All around the British Isles and further afield south to the Mediterranean. Its distribution around eastern Scotland may be patchy?  Additional Notes: Size in the River Adur outer estuary, Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex:  to 14 cm (excluding the tail fin) and a weight of  70 grams (2½ oz). Angling weights: British record: (11 oz 4 dms) 318 g  (1974,  T R Woodman, Portland Bill, Dorset )   Ref:  Potts, G.W., 1974. the colouration and its behavioural significance in the corkwing wrasse, Crenilabrus melops. J Mar. Biol. ass. of the UK 54 925-938. Corkwing Wrasse habitually fight to the death if kept together in an aquarium. AH Further Notes web page (link to) Information wanted: Please send any records of this fish, with location, date, who discovered it, how it was identified, prevalence, common name and any other details to  Shorewatch Project  EMail Glaucus@hotmail.com.  All messages will receive a reply.  Reports: Wrasse Page                             Shorewatch Project Report  Forms       Information supplied by  Andy Horton (British Marine Life Study Society)

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