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Fish

Corkwing wrasse

Symphodus melops

Symphodus melops (Linnaeus, 1758) · Labridae WoRMS 273571

Reference photos

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A deep-bodied wrasse of rocky shores and seaweed, with a black spot in the middle of the tail stalk and a comma-shaped spot behind the eye.

Depth

Lower shore pools down to about 50 m

Size

Up to 25-28 cm, typically 15-20 cm

Habitat

Rocky shores among seaweed and in lower shore pools, extending sublittorally; also near rocks, eel-grass beds and in lagoons

Behaviour

Schooling and territorial; the male builds a seaweed nest among rocks or in crevices and guards it aggressively

Diet

I eat

  • Bottom-living crustaceans, including amphipods, isopods, prawns and crabs
  • Molluscs, including small gastropods such as periwinkles, and bivalves such as the common mussel
  • Worms and encrusting invertebrates, including polychaetes, hydroids and bryozoans

Where you'd find it

Found around most of Britain and Ireland, though less often in the Celtic Sea and the waters west of Ireland.

ChannelCeltic SeaNorth SeaIrish SeaW of IrelandW of Scotland
Often seenNow and thenWhere PEBL filmsBased on marine survey records (OBIS). Blank seas can mean nobody has looked there, not that the animal is absent.

Sources

Open-access references behind this page. Every statement on this page was read out of one of them; anything that could not be traced to a source was taken off the page rather than left standing. Each link was checked on the date shown, and confirmed then to be about this species.

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