A moderately large species, to about 272 mm

Common throughout NZ. It is common on exposed rocky reefs. It occurs mainly in deeper water as shallow as 4 m but more common in depths of 10-40 m.

Have powerful teeth both in the jaws and the throat, used for crushing limpets, crabs and shellfish. Food consists of crabs, hermit crabs and brittlestars. It searches for food among encrusting organisms and algal holdfasts using the large forward-jutting canine teeth to rake its food from the substratum .

Spawning occurs in late winter-spring, August – November, and juveniles about five cm found in February-March in shallow water. They grow rapidly, maturing at one year old. Females breed for two to three years before changing sex at about four years old. Juveniles and females sometimes act as cleaners.
This species are often referred to as parrot-fish for their amazing array of colours.

NZ Marine Fishes: Paul
Russell, B. 2010. Pseudolabrus miles. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. . Downloaded on 07 February 2014.