Halichoeres californicus Günther, 1861
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Halichoeres californicus is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean along the coasts of California and Baja California. Its distribution extends from Salt Point in Sonoma County, California, to southern central Baja California, near Cedros Island. It is a very common species; its common name in Spanish is señorita. This fish can grow to 25 cm (9.8 in) in total length. Its body is fusiform, frequently described as "cigar-shaped". It is brown or shiny bronze dorsally and orange on its sides, becoming paler ventrally. The base of the tail fin is mostly covered with a large black or chocolate brown spot. The mouth is small and it has protruding "buck teeth" which it uses to scrape tiny invertebrate prey items off of kelp. This fish lives in near-coastal marine habitats, especially kelp forests and reefs. It has been observed at depths of 73 m (240 ft), but it generally lives at 20 m (66 ft) or less.
Wikipedia contributors, Halichoeres californicus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:42:21.047614+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Halichoeres californicus Günther, 1861
- Name authority
- Günther, 1861
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Halichoeres
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- familyLabridae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyJulidinae Bonaparte, 1841
- genusHalichoeres Rüppell, 1835
- speciesHalichoeres californicus Günther, 1861
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Halichoeres. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| mangrove wrasseHalichoeres aestuaricola Bussing, 1972 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| greenband wrasseHalichoeres bathyphilus (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1932) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres bicolor (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| slippery dickHalichoeres bivittatus (Bloch, 1791) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| wounded wrasseHalichoeres chierchiae Di Caporiacco, 1948 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres chlorocephalus Kuiter & Randall, 1995 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres chloropterus (Bloch, 1791) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres chrysotaenia (Bleeker, 1853) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres claudia Randall & Rocha, 2009 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| yellowcheek wrasseHalichoeres cyanocephalus (Bloch, 1791) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Halichoeres discolor Bussing, 1983 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| chameleon wrasseHalichoeres dispilus (Günther, 1864) | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Oxyjulis californica (Günther, 1861) (Günther, 1861) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Günther, A. (1861). A preliminary synopsis of the labroid genera. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 3), v. 8 (no. 47): 382–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936108697435 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3JBQL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.