ballan wrasse
Labrus bergylta Ascanius, 1767
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
The ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, where it inhabits rocky areas. Like many wrasse species, it is a protogynous hermaphrodite—all fish start life as females, and some dominant fish later become males. It is used as a food fish in some areas and it is also finding use as a cleaner fish in the aquaculture of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in northwestern Europe.
Wikipedia contributors, Ballan wrasse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:32:31.836160+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Labrus bergylta Ascanius, 1767
- Name authority
- Ascanius, 1767
- Common name
- ballan wrasse
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Labrus
- 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
- subfamilyLabrinae Cuvier, 1816
- genusLabrus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesLabrus bergylta Ascanius, 1767
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Labrus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| brown wrasseLabrus merula Linnaeus, 1758 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| cuckoo wrasseLabrus mixtus Linnaeus, 1758 | LabridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| green wrasseLabrus viridis Linnaeus, 1758 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Labrus balanus Fleming, 1828 Fleming, 1828 | synonym |
| Labrus ballan Bonnaterre, 1788 Bonnaterre, 1788 | synonym |
| Labrus donovani Valenciennes, 1839 Valenciennes, 1839 | synonym |
| Labrus neustriae Lacepède, 1801 Lacepède, 1801 | synonym |
| Labrus berggylta Ascanius, 1767 Ascanius, 1767 | synonym |
| Labrus comber Bonnaterre, 1788 Bonnaterre, 1788 | synonym |
| Labrus reticulatus Lowe, 1839 Lowe, 1839 | ambiguous synonym |
| Labrus variabilis Thompson, 1837 Thompson, 1837 | synonym |
| Labrus nubilus Valenciennes, 1843 Valenciennes, 1843 | synonym |
| Labrus maculatus Bloch, 1792 Bloch, 1792 | synonym |
| Crenilabrus multidentatus Thompson, 1837 Thompson, 1837 | 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.
- Ascanius, P. (1767). Icones rerum naturalium, ou figures enluminées d’histoire naturelle du Nord. Copenhagen, 5 parts, 36 pp., 50 pls. Pt. 1 (1867), 22 pp., Pls. 1–10; 2 (1772), 8 pp., Pls. 11–20; 3 (1775), 6 pp., Pls. 21–30; 4 (1777), 6 pp., Pls. 31–40; 5 (1805), 8 pp., Pls. 41–50. 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:3RKYF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.