Halichoeres burekae, the Mardi Gras wrasse, is a species of wrasse native to the Gulf of Mexico. The species was first described from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary,[1] in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, but has since been recorded in other areas of the southern Gulf of Mexico.[2] Because it is a small species that feeds on plankton in the water column, it is likely a preferred prey for invasive Lionfish.[3] It also has a very restricted range, and corresponding relatively small population, what resulted in this species being listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.[4]
| Halichoeres burekae | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Labriformes |
| Family: | Labridae |
| Genus: | Halichoeres |
| Species: | H. burekae
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| Binomial name | |
| Halichoeres burekae Weaver & L. A. Rocha, 2007
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Etymology edit
The fish is named in honor of Joyce Burek.[5]
References edit
- ^ Weaver, Douglas C.; Rocha, Luiz A. (2007). "A New Species of Halichoeres (Teleostei: Labridae) from the Western Gulf of Mexico". Copeia. 2007 (4): 798–807. ISSN 0045-8511.
- ^ Aguilar-Perera, Alfonso; Tuz-Sulub, Armin (2009-11-26). "Occurrence of the Mardi Gras wrasse, Halichoeres burekae (Teleostei: Labridae) in the Alacranes Reef, off northern Yucatan Peninsula". Zootaxa. 2298 (1): 64–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2298.1.5. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ^ Rocha, Luiz A.; Rocha, Claudia R.; Baldwin, Carole C.; Weigt, Lee A.; McField, Melanie (2015-09-01). "Invasive lionfish preying on critically endangered reef fish". Coral Reefs. 34 (3): 803–806. doi:10.1007/s00338-015-1293-z. ISSN 1432-0975.
- ^ Kent Carpenter (IUCN SSC Global Marine Species Assessment, Old Dominion University; Rico), Matthew Craig (University of Puerto; Texas), Luiz Rocha (University of; Bruce Collette (Smithsonian, Usa); Robertson (STRI), Ross; Mexico), Hector Espinosa-Perez (National University of; University), John McEachran (Texas A&M; Frank Pezold (Texas A&M University, Corpus Cristi; Brenner (TNC), Jorge (2014-01-06). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Halichoeres burekae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order LABRIFORMES: Family LABRIDAE (a-h)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 10 March 2022.