Allen's Polly
Dotalabrus alleni
- Usual depth1–9 m
- Water temperature17–23 °C
- Best monthsJanuary, April, and December
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The little rainbow wrasse is a species of marine ray-finned fish which is classified within the wrasse family Labridae. It is found in the south eastern Indian Ocean off Western Australia from the Recherche Archipelago north to the Houtman Abrolhos islands. The specific name honours Dr. Gerald R. Allen who collected the holotype and a number of paratypes, and the brought Barry Russell's attention to this taxon so that he could describe it.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Little rainbow 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: 17 records
- February: 13 records
- March: 13 records
- April: 16 records
- May: 2 records
- June: 2 records
- July: 4 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 2 records
- October: 10 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 14 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–9 m · Deepest record: 12.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 17–23 °C
Photos
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Allen's Polly, Allen's Wrasse, Little Rainbow Wrasse
Similar species
Castelnau's ParrotfishDotalabrus aurantiacus
Blue GroperAchoerodus gouldii
Blue GroperAchoerodus viridis
Hawaiian HogfishBodianus albotaeniatus
Tripletail wrasseCheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head ParrotfishChlorurus microrhinos
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).
- 207 open-data records from 1974 to 1994.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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