Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta)

Photo by jeyre on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Fish·Active (October)

Ballan wrasse

Labrus bergylta

When
Apr–Oct — April, May, June, July, August, September, October. Earlier where the water warms first.
Habitat
Rocky shores, kelp and reef from the low-tide line down to about 30 m — deep gullies, rock ledges and harbour walls on Atlantic coasts from Norway to Morocco. Records from the Mediterranean itself are doubtful.
Identification
A heavy, deep-bodied wrasse with a big head, thick, wrinkled lips, a long spiny dorsal fin and large scales. Colour varies from plain green or brown to red-brown covered in pale spots.
Notes
Every ballan wrasse starts life as a female; a few change into males after four to fourteen years. It lives up to 34 years and feeds only by day, crushing mussels and crabs. Now a favourite catch-and-release target on light lure tackle.
Method
Small soft-plastic worms and creature baits, or a crab bait, fished tight to the rock and weed in daylight.
Caution
Long-lived — up to 34 years — so put them back. Wild wrasse are also trapped live for use as cleaner fish on salmon farms, a fishery Scotland has regulated with mandatory measures since 2021.

Seasons, size limits and catch limits change every year and differ by water body. Check the current regulations for the country and the water before fishing.

Ballan wrasse facts

Also called
Ballan; the largest wrasse of north-west European coasts.
Family
Labridae, the wrasses.
Native range
The north-eastern Atlantic from Norway to Morocco, including Madeira, the Azores and the Canaries. Mediterranean records are doubtful and probably brown wrasse.
Habitat
Rocks, reefs, kelp and seaweed from 1 to about 50 m (3–165 ft), usually 2–30 m; young fish often in the intertidal zone.
Water temperature
Cool temperate. AquaMaps puts its preferred surface water at about 10–14°C (50–58°F); FishBase gives a tolerance of 5–25°C.
Size
Most adults 30–50 cm (12–20 in); the largest measured about 66 cm (26 in).
Record
IGFA all-tackle world record: 4.35 kg (9 lb 9 oz), Bertrand Kron, Clogher Head, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 20 August 1983.
Lifespan
Up to 34 years.
What it eats
Mussels and other shellfish pulled from rock faces, crabs and small lobsters, crushed by powerful teeth in the throat. It has no stomach.
Spawning
The male builds a nest of seaweed in a rock crevice; one or more females lay eggs in it, and he guards them for one to two weeks until the larvae hatch and drift away.
Young fish
Young fish match their habitat, from pale to bright emerald green.
Teeth and mouth
Small, with thick, wrinkled lips and a single row of strong teeth, sharp in young fish and worn blunt in old ones.
Look-alikes
Corkwing wrasse is much smaller and has a small dark spot on the tail stalk. In the Mediterranean, the brown wrasse (Labrus merula) is the similar large wrasse.
Eating
Eaten in Orkney and Galway, but not highly regarded in most of Britain and Ireland; most anglers release it.
Status
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2008). It is now heavily fished as a live cleaner fish for salmon farms — ballan make up about 72% of Scotland’s wild wrasse landings — and is also bred for the purpose.

Interactive

Ballan wrasse: size range

Move the slider from a typical adult to the largest recorded specimen, shown against objects of known size.

40 cm · 16 inmost adults1020304050607080cm36912151821242730ina grown-up's hand · 18 cma loaf of bread · 30 cm

Most adults you'll catch: 30–50 cm (12–20 in).

This ballan wrasse: 40 cm. Longer than a loaf of bread, shorter than a four-year-old.

The record

IGFA all-tackle world record: 4.35 kg (9 lb 9 oz), Bertrand Kron, Clogher Head, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 20 August 1983.

Questions people ask about ballan wrasse

Do ballan wrasse change sex?

Yes. Every ballan wrasse starts life as a female, and a few change into males after four to fourteen years. The largest fish are almost certainly males.

What is the best time to catch ballan wrasse?

Summer into autumn, in daylight. Wrasse feed only by day and catches fall away as the light fades; autumn is often the best time for a specimen.

Why are wrasse used on salmon farms?

They eat sea lice off farmed salmon. Ballan wrasse are one of five wrasse species trapped wild for the purpose, and are now also farmed to reduce pressure on wild stocks.

Found in these regions

Checked against these sources ·

Sizes, records and ranges are for the species as a whole; local populations and rules vary. Records change; the record-keeper named above holds the current one.

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Also active in October