Blackstripe coris

The blackstripe coris, also known as the yellowstripe coris, is an endemic wrasse. According to my fish book, John P. Hoover’s The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals, it’s most abundant around the northwestern islands of the Hawaii chain. Around the main islands, mature females are uncommon and males rare.

The fish in the top photo is a large male. It has no black stripes, yellow stripes, or stripes of any kind, because this is one of those species where the male and female look radically different. This male was sparkling green in a variety of patterns. The other photo shows a female, which gives a better idea of why the fish got its name.

8 thoughts on “Blackstripe coris”

        1. Graham Post author

          Sometimes I’ll take a photo even though it won’t be very good, knowing it could still help with identifying something. Mind you, I’ve taken photos of very striking plants or fish, thinking it will be easy to ID them, and they’re still in my unknown folder to this day!

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  2. Wendy

    What a gorgeous shot you got of him! I’m pretty sure I saw him this morning around the rocks before arriving at the pavilion reef. It was very murky and surgey though, so I wasn’t able to get a photo, and he was moving pretty fast. Very nice though, and now I know what to look for. Mahalo!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham Post author

      I first saw him right in front of the parking area, but we traveled in the same general direction and the last I saw of him was past the pavilion.

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