Julidinae

Julidinae
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present Possible Early Eocene record
Sunset wrasse (Thalassoma lutescens)
Eastern king wrasse (Coris sandeyeri)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Subfamily: Julidinae
Bonaparte, 1841
Genera

20., see text

The julidine wrasses are saltwater fish of the subfamily Julidinae, a subgroup of the wrasse family (Labridae). It contains the highest number of genera and species out of all the wrasse tribes, with 20 genera and over 200 species, comprising almost a third of all wrasse species.

Taxonomy

A 2005 molecular phylogenetic analysis strongly supports the monophyly of this clade. It was formerly treated as the tribe Julidini, but is now recognized as its own subfamily by Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes.

Coris bulbifrons, Stethojulis bandanensis, Anampses elegans, and Thalassoma lutescens. At Norfolk Island.

It also found that the cleaner wrasse genera that traditionally comprised the tribe Labrichthyini (Labrichthys, Labropsis, Diproctacanthus, Larabicus, and Labroides), although forming a monophyletic group, were all nested within Julidini. Labrichthys is the sister group to the other cleaner wrasse genera, and does not act as a cleaner; it is an obligate corallivore for its entire life. Larabicus, Diproctacanthus, and Labropsis are cleaners only as juveniles and feed on corals as adults, while Labroides is a cleaner for its entire life. The subfamily Pseudolabrinae is likely the sister group of Julidinae, if not nested within the Julidinae; the former is additionally supported by Hughes et al 2023.

Several genera in this tribe are problematic. Most notably, Halichoeres and Coris are paraphyletic or polyphyletic. Gomphosus has also been repeatedly found nested within Thalassoma.

The difficulty in resolving relationships within Julidini is a result of the rapid speciation of julidine wrasses.

Evolution

Thalassoma lunare with Gomphosus varius. At Norfolk Island.

The tribe Julidini likely originated in the Eocene. It is hypothesized that the relatively warm and stable climate that followed the Early Eocene Climactic Optimum may have played a part in the diversification of julidine wrasses. Fossil julidine wrasses such as †Coris sigismundi have been found in rocks dating to the Miocene. Potential fossil julidines such as †Eocoris Bannikov & Sorbini, 2010 and †Paralabrus Bannikov & Zorzini, 2019 are known as early as the Eocene, though their placement in this subfamily is uncertain.

Genera

Based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (2025):

Genera Image
Anampses

Quoy & Gaimard, 1824

A. twistii

Coris

Lacépède, 1801

C. bulbifrons

Diproctacanthus

Bleeker, 1862

D. xanthurus

Frontilabrus

Randall & Condé, 1989
Gomphosus

Lacépède, 1801

G. varius

Halichoeres

Rüppell, 1835

H. hortulanus

Hemigymnus

Günther, 1861

H. fasciatus

Hologymnosus

Lacépède, 1801

H. annulatus

Labrichthys

Bleeker, 1854

L. unilineatus

Labroides

Bleeker, 1851

L. dimidiatus

Labropsis

P. J. Schmidt, 1931

L. alleni

Larabicus

Randall & Springer, 1973

L. quadrilineatus

Leptojulis

Bleeker, 1862

L. cyanopleura

Macropharyngodon

Bleeker, 1862

M. geoffroy

Minilabrus

Randall & Dor, 1981
Ophthalmolepis

Bleeker, 1862

O. lineolata

Parajulis

Bleeker, 1865

P. poecileptera

Pseudocoris

Bleeker, 1862

P. bleekeri

Pseudojuloides

Fowler, 1949

P. elongatus

Stethojulis

Günther, 1861

S. trilineata

Thalassoma

Swainson, 1839

T. rueppellii

Xenojulis

de Beaufort, 1939

X. margaritaceus

References

  1. 1 2 Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Westneat, Mark W.; Alfaro, Michael E. (2005-03-11). "Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the reef fish family Labridae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 36 (2): 370–390. Bibcode:2005MolPE..36..370W. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.02.001. PMID 15955516.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hughes, Lily C; Nash, Chloe M; White, William T; Westneat, Mark W (2023-05-01). "Concordance and Discordance in the Phylogenomics of the Wrasses and Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae)". Systematic Biology. 72 (3): 530–543. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syac072. ISSN 1063-5157. PMID 36331534.
  4. 1 2 Brownstein, Chase D.; Harrington, Richard C.; Alencar, Laura R. V.; Bellwood, David R.; Choat, John H.; Rocha, Luiz A.; Wainwright, Peter C.; Tavera, Jose; Burress, Edward D.; Muñoz, Martha M.; Cowman, Peter F.; Near, Thomas J. (2025-05-07). "Phylogenomics establishes an Early Miocene reconstruction of reef vertebrate diversity". Science Advances. 11 (19) eadu6149. Bibcode:2025SciA...11.6149B. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu6149. PMC 12057688. PMID 40333985.
  5. 1 2 Cole, A. J. (2010-03-01). "Cleaning to corallivory: ontogenetic shifts in feeding ecology of tubelip wrasse". Coral Reefs. 29 (1): 125–129. Bibcode:2010CorRe..29..125C. doi:10.1007/s00338-009-0563-z. ISSN 1432-0975.
  6. ↑ Grutter, Alexandra S.; Feeney, William E. (2016-09-01). "Equivalent cleaning in a juvenile facultative and obligate cleaning wrasse: an insight into the evolution of cleaning in labrids?". Coral Reefs. 35 (3): 991–997. Bibcode:2016CorRe..35..991G. doi:10.1007/s00338-016-1460-x. ISSN 1432-0975.
  7. ↑ Baliga, Vikram B.; Law, Chris J. (2016-01-01). "Cleaners among wrasses: Phylogenetics and evolutionary patterns of cleaning behavior within Labridae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94 (Pt A): 424–435. Bibcode:2016MolPE..94..424B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.006. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 26458760.
  8. ↑ BANNIKOV, ALEXANDRE F; ZORZIN, ROBERTO (2019). "Paralabrus rossiae, a new genus and species of putative labroid fish (Perciformes) from the Eocene of Bolca in northern Italy". Studi e ricerche sui giacimenti terziari di Bolca. XIX (16): 39–47.
  9. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Julidinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 24 August 2025.