Dennis Rabeling, Lanzarote, Kanarischen Inseln
Info
The genus Coris includes 28 valid species, most of which are distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, with only two species known from the eastern Atlantic: Coris atlantica and Coris julis.
Coris julis exhibits a great variability in coloration and is divided into Atlantic and Mediterranean populations.
Two colorations have been described for Coris julis: the primary coloration or “giofredi”, which corresponds to females and first-stage males and is considered to be the same for Atlantic and Mediterranean populations; and the secondary coloration or “julis”, which corresponds to second-stage males and is different for Atlantic and Mediterranean populations.
Coris melanura lives sympatrically with Coris julis in the Mediterranean, both species coexist but partly use different depth zones:
Coris julis: 0.2 . 120 meters
Coris melanura 3 m- 160 meters
that both species meet is more than likely.
Due to the publication “Genetic and Morphological Evidence to Split the Coris julis Species Complex (Teleostei: Labridae) Into Two Sibling Species: Resurrection of Coris melanura (Lowe, 1839) Redescription of Coris julis (Linnaeus, 1758)”, Coris melanura was reactivated as a valid species in WoRMS in 2024.
Primary coloration of Coris melanura
females and males in the initial phase have a thin black line that extends across the upper half of the body from behind the eye socket to almost halfway down the tail fin rays, a small triangular dark spot on the membrane between the second and third dorsal spine (sometimes barely visible) and 6-8 elongated rows of small red spots surrounding the white belly from the lower edge of the pectoral fin insertion to the anus;
Secondary coloration (males in the secondary phase) with black caudal fin and a row of black, yellow or red (sometimes two of these colors present), vertically elongated spots (bars) along the side of the body.
Color variability:
Around the Canary Islands, Coris atlantica Günther 1862, Coris julis and Coris melanura occur.
In addition to the well-known sex change from female to male, development-related color changes, the division into primary and secondary males, and spontaneous lightning-fast color changes due to different environments, a purely “optical assignment” is hardly possible.
Furthermore, hybridization among the three mentioned wrasse species around the Cape Verde Islands cannot be ruled out.
Synonyms:
Coris taeniatus Steindachner, 1863 · unaccepted
Julis azorensis Fowler, 1919 · unaccepted
Julis festiva Valenciennes, 1839 · unaccepted
Julis melanura Lowe, 1839 · unaccepted > superseded combination
Coris julis exhibits a great variability in coloration and is divided into Atlantic and Mediterranean populations.
Two colorations have been described for Coris julis: the primary coloration or “giofredi”, which corresponds to females and first-stage males and is considered to be the same for Atlantic and Mediterranean populations; and the secondary coloration or “julis”, which corresponds to second-stage males and is different for Atlantic and Mediterranean populations.
Coris melanura lives sympatrically with Coris julis in the Mediterranean, both species coexist but partly use different depth zones:
Coris julis: 0.2 . 120 meters
Coris melanura 3 m- 160 meters
that both species meet is more than likely.
Due to the publication “Genetic and Morphological Evidence to Split the Coris julis Species Complex (Teleostei: Labridae) Into Two Sibling Species: Resurrection of Coris melanura (Lowe, 1839) Redescription of Coris julis (Linnaeus, 1758)”, Coris melanura was reactivated as a valid species in WoRMS in 2024.
Primary coloration of Coris melanura
females and males in the initial phase have a thin black line that extends across the upper half of the body from behind the eye socket to almost halfway down the tail fin rays, a small triangular dark spot on the membrane between the second and third dorsal spine (sometimes barely visible) and 6-8 elongated rows of small red spots surrounding the white belly from the lower edge of the pectoral fin insertion to the anus;
Secondary coloration (males in the secondary phase) with black caudal fin and a row of black, yellow or red (sometimes two of these colors present), vertically elongated spots (bars) along the side of the body.
Color variability:
Around the Canary Islands, Coris atlantica Günther 1862, Coris julis and Coris melanura occur.
In addition to the well-known sex change from female to male, development-related color changes, the division into primary and secondary males, and spontaneous lightning-fast color changes due to different environments, a purely “optical assignment” is hardly possible.
Furthermore, hybridization among the three mentioned wrasse species around the Cape Verde Islands cannot be ruled out.
Synonyms:
Coris taeniatus Steindachner, 1863 · unaccepted
Julis azorensis Fowler, 1919 · unaccepted
Julis festiva Valenciennes, 1839 · unaccepted
Julis melanura Lowe, 1839 · unaccepted > superseded combination
