17/N – Rainbow wrasse - Coris julis

A very colorful, slender labrid that is omnipresent in all rocky environments, at depths that vary from a few meters to over 30 m. A frantic swimmer and particularly voracious despite its small size. This species is broadly spread throughout the Mediterranean, in the eastern Atlantic and the Black Sea. Its body is tapered and flat on the sides, with an elongated head and a pointed face. Its mouth, placed at the end of the head, is small and both the jaws have several rows of teeth, which allow it to eat mollusks, shellfish and small invertebrates. The rainbow wrasse is a hermaphroditic protogynous species, i.e. samples smaller than 18 cm long are younger and female, and the larger ones are male.