Fish of the Coris genus of the Labridae (wrasses) family of the Labroidei suborder of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Mediterranean rainbow wrasse male. Photo © blog.mallorcahiking.com)
Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Coris julis) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths of up to 120 meters, usually 1-60 meters. It prefers to swim close to a rocky bottom and in the meadows of sea grass or eelgrass. The maximum recorded length is 30 cm; specimens up to 20 cm long are more common. Males are brighter than females. At night, it gets scared and digs itself into the sand. It feeds mainly on small gastropods, sea urchins and worms.
(Mediterranean rainbow wrasse female. Photo by © Simon Brandl. scimonopsis.com)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Coris julis) in other languages as follows:
Peshk bari brezylbertë (Albanian), Морски юнкер (Morski Yunker) (Bulgarian), Regenbooglipvis (Dutch), Γύλος (Gyljos) (Greek), Yulit (Hebrew), Julia (Spanish), Donzella (Italian), Meerjunker (German), Korys doncela (Polish), Peixe-rei (Portuguese), Pește păun (Romanian), Морской юнкер (Morskoj junker) (Russian), Knez (Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian), Güneş balığı (Turkish), Girelle (French), Kněžík duhový (Czech).