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Checkerboard wrasse
Halichoeres hortulanus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Checkerboard wrasse
- Scientific
- Halichoeres hortulanus
- Dhivehi
- Gulsanpaa hikaa
- Group
- Reef fish
- Family
- Labridae (wrasses)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 27 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 40 m (usually 1 to 30 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2008
Description
A wrasse with a checkerboard pattern of dark and pale squares on the body, one or two yellow saddles on the back and green lines on the head; juveniles are black and white. It forages over sand patches on lagoon and seaward reefs for molluscs, crustaceans and urchins.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) gives gulsanpaa hikaa.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Halichoeres-hortulanus.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=12663&GenusName=Halichoeres&SpeciesNa
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Lábrido_tablero_a_cuadros_(Halichoeres_hortulanus),_mar_Roj
Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Gulsanpaa hikaa' (Latin script). FishBase also lists 'Kunauhikkae' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: single source.