Latent Slingjaw Wrasse

The latent sling-jaw wrasse is similar to its sole congener, the sling-jaw wrasse (Epibulus insidiator) but can be easily distinguished by the absence of black "streaks" around the eyes, its comparatively duller colouration in the males, the possession of black areas on the fins in the majority of the females, its slightly longer pectoral fins and its smaller size. The male latent sling-jaw wrasse is brown with a yellow throat, yellowish lobes of the tail and a yellow marking at the gill slit. The females are more variable in colour and can be dark to pale brown, or yellow or almost white and most have black markings on their pectoral fins. The juveniles are brown to greenish-brown in colour and have black spots on the dorsal and anal fins. This species has 9 spines and 10 soft rays in its dorsal fin and 3 spines and 8 soft rays in its anal fin. As with its congener, they have long jaws, with its rearmost part extending almost to the base of the pelvic fins; this anatomy allows them to significantly protrude their jaws, hence the common name.

The latent sling-jaw wrasse occurs in the western Pacific and has been recorded from Palau, Luzon and Cebu Province in the Philippines, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi and Flores in Indonesia, Milne Bay Province and Madang Province in eastern Papua New Guinea, the Sololmon Islands and the Hibernia Reef, which lies within the territory of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Timor Sea, to the north-west of Western Australia.