Cheilio inermis, (Forsskål, 1775)
The cigar wrasse, Cheilio inermis, is a species of wrasse native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. They are usually about 10cm in length, with some rare reports of cigar wrasses growing to be 50 cm. They have a long cylindrical, eel-like body shape referred to as anguilliform and have elongated dorsal and anal fins. They are often seen off the coast of Australia, the eastern seaboard of Africa, and India. They are primarily observed in, and occupy, reef habitats. Their coloration can vary widely to include yellow, brown, white, black, red, and stripes of all colors. Juvenile cigar wrasses have the same coloration as adults, but tend to have more pronounced stripes. It is unknown whether there is a difference in appearance between the female and the male.
This species is very understudied with only a few papers documenting their life history, distribution, and biology.
It grows to an average length of 35 cm (14 in) but can reach up to 50 cm (20 in).
Young individuals are usually a mottled brown or green, sometimes with a broad lateral stripe. Rare individuals may be uniformly yellow. Large males may develop a bright yellow, orange, black, white, or multicolored patch on their sides behind their pectoral fins.
Due to their adult size and diet, they are rarely kept in the aquarium.
The cigar wrasse is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Cigar wrasse live primarily in seagrass within shallow reefs. They have been observed in abundance feeding in canopy macroalgae habitats as well. They primarily feed during the summer, but remain in the same algae meadows during the winter. Both adults and juveniles are found in abundance in seagrass beds during all seasons. They can be found in soft coral reefs that are close to sandy seagrass beds as well as other habitats in close proximity to the seagrass beds they frequent. Cigar wrasses have a special affinity for finding and remaining in habitats that surround seagrass. It serves as their primary habitat, providing them protection from predators as well as nutrition. They have also been observed in large abundance along the perimeter of their primary habitat, feeding and hiding.
Cigar wrasse diet depends heavily on their location. In Amitori Bay they have been observed feeding on gastropods and smaller fishes, while in Nagura Bay their diet consisted of mostly shrimp. While the body size of cigar wrasse can differ in populations across the Indo-Pacific, between 4.4cm to 14.8cm, all sizes are seen in each habitat; therefore, researchers do not attribute differences in diet to size.
Many instances of courtship across the family Labridae involve a male swimming in circles for prospective females approximately 1.8-2.4m above the sea floor. It has been observed that the male's wrasses dorsal and anal fins are depressed towards its caudal fin during this movement. When a female wrasse is interested, she will rise up in the water column and tilt onto one side. The pair will swim side by side and a cloud of gametes is resealed by the male, then the two separate. This behavior has been observed in many species of wrasse, but has not yet been seen in cigar wrasse. Nothing is known about the specific courtship behavior of cigar wrasses, or if it varies from the larger majority of wrasses who engage in the observed mating behavior.
The conservation status of cigar wrasses is understudied, so their current conservation needs are limited by researchers' lack of knowledge. There are reports of cigar wrasse showing up as by-catch in nets off the eastern coast of Africa where they are using mosquito nets to fish. Since cigar wrasse are largely stationary fish, they appear in large quantities in the fine mesh netting. However, the effect it is having on their conservation status is currently unknown. The IUCN currently lists them at the status of Least Concern and their population trend is unknown. While the current trend is unknown, with the amount of cigar wrasse being caught off the eastern coast of Africa, it is possible their IUCN listing could change within the decade.
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