| Combfish | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Labridae |
| Genus: | Coris |
| Species: | C. picta |
| Binomial name | |
| Coris picta (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) |
|
The combfish or comb wrasse, Coris picta, is a wrasse of the genus Coris, found off eastern Australia and around offshore islands off north eastern New Zealand to depths of between 5 and 55 metres, on mixed sandy/rocky reef areas. Its length is between 10 and 25 centimetres.
The combfish has a long white body with a prominent wide black stripe from its mouth through its eye along the body to the end of the tail. The lower margin of the stripe is wavy and comb-like giving the fish its common name. The portion of the stripe on the tail fin turns yellow during the breeding season. There is also a thin red stripe running along the top of the body from the mouth, along the base of the dorsal fin for the fin's full length.
Combfish often act as cleaners and some get most of their food in this way. The contrasting colour pattern with its cleaning signal stripe acts as a strong attraction to many other reef fish and combfish are often surrounded by groups of fishes waiting to be cleaned. The rest of their diet consists of small crustaceans.