Canary Wrasse

Photo: Thomas Menut · CC BY-NC

The Canary wrasse is endemic to the Macaronesian archipelagos and is most abundant on rocky reef walls with complex topography like Puerto Colón — territories for cleaning and feeding centred on specific gorgonian outcrops that individual fish hold across multiple seasons. Males develop brilliant breeding coloration of blue-green with orange lateral stripes during warmer months and perform elaborate courtship displays on exposed reef points, the intensity of their colour a reliable indicator of water temperature and the nutritional condition of the local fish community. As obligate residents of the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores, their abundance on the wall is a direct measure of the integrity of the volcanic reef habitat — they do not survive long periods of poor water quality or sedimentation.