
Ornamental Wrasse
Halichoeres ornatissimus
- Usual depth5–22 m
- Water temperature24–29 °C
- Best monthsApril
- How commonCommon
Photo credit: (c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 267 records
- February: 720 records
- March: 1,369 records
- April: 2,558 records
- May: 1,346 records
- June: 1,257 records
- July: 847 records
- August: 1,171 records
- September: 1,519 records
- October: 1,167 records
- November: 281 records
- December: 50 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 5–22 m · Deepest record: 33.3 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C
Photos

(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Rolf Lawrenz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Alessandro Franchini, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Ornamental Wrasse, Ornamented Wrasse, Ornate Christmas Wrasse, Ornate Wrasse
Names in 2 more languages
- Japanese
- オーナメンテッドラス
- Simplified Chinese
- 柳冷仔, 飾妝儒艮鯛, 飾妝海豬魚
Other scientific names: Julis ornatissimus
Similar species
Checkerboard wrasseHalichoeres hortulanus
Argus WrasseHalichoeres argus
Biocellated WrasseHalichoeres biocellatus
Brownfield's WrasseHalichoeres brownfieldi
Black-blotched RainbowfishHalichoeres chloropterus
Canary WrasseHalichoeres chrysus
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 12,993 open-data records from 1889 to 2022.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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