- © A. Reitsma, Aquarium of the Pacific
This wrasse has a number of common names: rockmover, dragon, and reindeer. Rockmover comes from the behavior in which they move coral fragments and rubble to find prey. Reindeer and dragon describe the first two dorsal fin spines of juveniles that are elongated.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
Hawaii south to central Polynesia, west to Micronesia and Melanesia, through the East Indies and across the Indian Ocean to the coast of Africa
- Amazing Facts
Although called rockmover wrasses, these fish do not move rocks. They move rubble and coral fragments.
- At the Aquarium
Who gets to eat the mussels, the rockmover wrasse or spiny lobster? The wrasse certainly tries to steal the lobsters’ dinner but is seldom successful. It’s more difficult to tangle with a lobster than it is to move a rock to find food.