Oriental Maori Wrasse

Max. Length: 20 cm.

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8; Vertebrae: 23. Color of large adults red in life; body usually with 5 indistinct narrow pale bars that may contain white flecks, and 2 faint pale stripes along side; irregular bright red vertical lines on edges of scales anteriorly on midside and lower part of body, along with red dots; head with white to pale blue-green transverse lines on side of lower jaw, widest near front of chin; side of snout and head below eye with small dark-edged white to pale blue-green spots; iris orange-yellow with a blue ring, hind edge of eye black with a bright blue-green spot above (shows when eye directed forward); a blackish smudge on 2nd and 3rd lateral-line scales may be present (not related to sex); dorsal and anal fins light orange-red with oblique red lines and dark-edged white to blue lines or rows of dashes or small spots, the dorsal sometimes blackish on 1st membrane, rarely with a broad dusky border; caudal fin red with small white spots, often with an irregular blotchy white bar near base; pectoral fins with dark-edged pale yellowish rays and clear membranes; pelvic fins translucent whitish, blotched with red and flecked with white. Color of small adults light red, finely flecked with pink dorsally and white ventrally, with an orange-yellow stripe from chin to eye and along side of body to midbase of caudal fin; stripe on body broadly bordered above and below with a broad whitish band; edges of scales along midside of body with vertical red lines; two small midlateral bright red spots, one below middle of soft portion of dorsal fin and the other on base of caudal fin.