Bluelined Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus lineatus
- Usual depth9–60 m
- Water temperature25–28 °C
- Best monthsNovember and December
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The purple-lined wrasse, also known as the lavender wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to coral reefs of New Caledonia and Australia, where it can be found at depths from 20 to 55 m. This species can reach a total length of 12 cm (4.7 in). It can be found in the aquarium trade. As a member of the family Labridae, Cirrhilabrus lineatus displays hermaphroditic behavior where a female may become a male when it is biologically favorable to do so. Generally, this occurs when competition from larger males disappears.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Purple-lined wrasse”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 4 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 1 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 0 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 1 records
- October: 3 records
- November: 8 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 9–60 m · Deepest record: 60 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–28 °C
Photos
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Bluelined Wrasse, Lavender Fairy-wrasse, Lavender Wrasse, Lineatus Fairy Wrasse, Purple-lined Wrasse, Purplelined Wrasse
Similar species
Blue-scaled Fairy WrasseCirrhilabrus cyanopleura
Exquisite wrasseCirrhilabrus exquisitus
Black-finned WrasseCirrhilabrus punctatus
Scott's Fairy-wrasseCirrhilabrus scottorum
Peacock WrasseCirrhilabrus temminckii
- Blackstriped Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus katherinae
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 30 open-data records from 1975 to 1987.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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