Description

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 11 - 13. Head, upper front part of body, and front of dorsal fin blue if from shallow water, red if from deep; rest of body and tail yellow. Dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins mostly blue or red-yellow at rear (Ref. 26938).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Eupercaria/misc

Family: Labridae

Genus: Bodianus

Species: Bodianus rufus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Climate Zone

Location

• Western Atlantic: Bermuda, southern Florida (USA) and throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to southern Brazil.

Biology

Adults inhabit rocky or coral reefs (Ref. 9710). Feed on brittle stars, crustaceans, mollusks, and sea urchins (Ref. 9710). Juveniles actively pick parasites from larger fishes (Ref. 5521). A protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. ). Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). May hybridize with spotfin hogfish, B. pulchellus (Ref. 40096). Marketed fresh (Ref. 3726). Maximum depth reported from Ref. 27115.

Habitat

associated

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning