Clepticus parrae
Purple-and-yellow schooling wrasse found across Caribbean reefs. Strong populations in Cuba, Colombia, and the Bahamas, present year-round in warm tropical water.
A mid-sized wrasse around 20 cm long with a striking two-tone pattern: the front half of the body is vivid purple-blue, blending into yellow towards the tail. It has a slightly forked tail and a streamlined, torpedo-shaped build typical of open-water wrasses. Look for it schooling in the water column above the reef rather than picking over corals like many relatives. Terminal-phase males carry deeper, more saturated purple tones than the paler females and initial-phase fish.
Creole wrasses are open-water schoolers, you typically spot them hovering in loose aggregations well above the reef crest, often facing into a mild current to feed on zooplankton (tiny drifting animals). They tend to be bold and largely indifferent to divers, making them easy to observe at close range. Schools can number in the hundreds on productive wall dives, and individuals regularly return to the same patch of water over a reef.
Like most wrasses, Creole wrasses are protogynous hermaphrodites: dominant females can transition into terminal-phase males, which accounts for the more intense colouration seen in larger individuals.
No clear seasonal peak has emerged from the data, so it can reasonably be treated as a year-round resident. It sits comfortably in water between about 25 and 29 °C, which describes most Caribbean reef diving throughout the calendar year.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Creole wrasse are distributed right across the wider Caribbean, with the strongest site coverage in Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Bahamas. The Caribbean Coast of Colombia, the Canarreos Archipelago in Cuba, and the Turneffe Atoll in Belize are among the standout regions. It also turns up reliably across the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, the Florida and Southeast US coast, and into the Turks and Caicos.
Mapping where Creole Wrasse is logged…
Creole wrasse are a Caribbean species with strong populations in Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Bahamas. Notable diving regions include the Canarreos Archipelago in Cuba, Turneffe Atoll in Belize, the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. They also appear along the Florida and Southeast US coast.
Available data shows no strong seasonal peak, so Creole wrasse are effectively a year-round sighting across their range. They favour water between roughly 25 and 29 °C, conditions that persist on Caribbean reefs throughout the year.
Look for a streamlined, roughly 20 cm wrasse with a purple-blue front half that transitions to yellow towards the forked tail. It schools in open water above the reef rather than hugging the bottom. Males are noticeably more vivid than females. Juveniles look completely different: bright yellow with a blue stripe from snout to tail.
Adults typically reach around 21 cm. They are a medium-sized wrasse, noticeably larger than small reef wrasses but far more slender and streamlined than chunky species like hogfish.
Not at all. Creole wrasse pose no threat to divers. They are inquisitive and generally unbothered by human presence, often allowing close approach when encountered in schools above the reef.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Cleaver Wrasse
2,700 sites
