Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Juveniles. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, February 2019 and February 2023. Photographs and identification courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught from Los Conchas Beach, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, November 2022. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, March 2020. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches).
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, April 2020. Length: 31 cm (12 inches). Atypical that a fish of this length is a female!
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholosi, Initial Phase (IP) Female. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Initial Phase (IP) Female Transitioning To Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2012. Length: 21 cm (8.3 inches).
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Initial Phase (IP) Female Transitioning To Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, September 2010. Length: 22 cm (8.7 inches).
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholosi, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, December 2010. Length: 25 cm (9.8 inches).
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Terminal Phase (IP) Male. Fish caught from shore at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, July 2018. Length: 37 cm (15 inches).
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Terminal Phase (IP) Male. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, January 2019. Photograph courtesy of Maude Jette, Dive Zihuantanejo, www.Divezihuantanejo.com.
Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, Terminal Phase (IP) Male. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, July 2023. Photograph courtesy of Kevin Erwin, Seattle, Washington.
The Spinster Wrasse, Halichoeres nicholsi, is a member of the Wrasse or Labridae Family, and is known in Mexico as señorita solterona. Globally, there are seventy species in the genus Halichoeres, nineteen of which are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.
The Spinster Wrasse has an elongated compressed body with a depth that is 30% to 34% of standard length. Females and males of the Initial Phase (IP) are light green on their upper back and whitish ventrally. They have a short black bar below the base of the front of their dorsal fin that joins a broad diffuse black stripe running along the middle of their flank. Their fins are similar in color to the body except that their caudal fin is yellowish. Terminal Phase (TP) males are bluish-green with a broad black bar behind their head and bright yellow spot just above their pectoral fins. Juveniles are whitish to yellow with irregular black stripes and blotches on their sides. They also have a large ocellated black spot on the middle of their dorsal fin. Their anal and dorsal fins are pinkish with two broken blue bands; their caudal fin is dark with blue specks; their pectoral fins are pinkish-brown with a blue base; and their pelvic fins are half pink and half transparent. They have a small terminal mouth equipped with two pairs of enlarged canine teeth at the front of both jaws and a large canine at the rear of the top jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 12 rays; their caudal fin is straight; their dorsal fin has 11 spines and 11 rays; and their pectoral fins have 13 rays. Their body is covered with large scales. Their lateral line is continuous and bend abruptly down under the dorsal fins.
The Spinster Wrasses are found over sandy or rubble bottoms adjacent to rocky reefs within tidal pools at depths up to 82 m (270 feet). They reach a maximum of 40.6 cm (16 inches) in length based on a fish I caught in July 2021. They are a solitary species that feed on brittle stars, crabs, mollusks, and sea urchins. The Spinster Wrasseis poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Spinster Wrasse is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from along the entire west coast of Baja.
The Spinster Wrasse is most likely confused with the Banded Wrasse, Halichoeres notospilus (numerous bars across the back) and the Wounded Wrasse, Halichoeres chierchiae (IP are red dorsally and white ventrally; TP lack black bars).
From a conservation perspective the Spinster Wrasses is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are too rare and too small in stature to be of interest to most.