Common catch
Ballan Wrasse
Morocco national team (Morocco)
Fun fish fact: ballan wrasse have thick lips and strong throat teeth for crunching crabs, on rocky coasts from Norway to Morocco. Football: at the 2022 World Cup, Morocco became the first African team to reach a semi-final.
Source: Wikipedia
A ballan wrasse has big, thick lips and crunches crabs off the rocks with strong teeth in its throat. It lives on rocky coasts as far south as Morocco, the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final.
The ballan wrasse in the wild
Where it lives: Rocky coasts of the north-east Atlantic from Norway to Morocco, among rocks, seaweed and reefs 1 to 50 metres deep.
Every ballan wrasse starts life as a female, and after four to 14 years a few change into males. A male builds a nest from seaweed in a rocky crack, where females lay their eggs. Fish farms in Norway and Scotland use ballan wrasse as cleaners that pick sea lice off salmon. Some live 34 years.
Checked against: Wikipedia.
On Futbol Island the ballan wrasse can be caught at:
- North Point: A rocky point on the island’s north-west corner, past the DRIP FC Stadium’s north stand. Cold, clear water swirls round the rocks, where big-headed cabezon and long-lived rockfish hide.
Size on the island: 20–60 cm.
How to catch it in Futbol Island
- Only one place on the island has the ballan wrasse: North Point.
- Before it bites, watch the water for a small, quick shadow (small shadow in the game).
- The Nutmeg lure brings it in more often. A tiny lure. Small, shy fish slip in to take it.
- The ballan wrasse is a common catch, so most new anglers reel one in early. Rosa at the market stand pays up to 3 coins for each one, and yours measures 20 to 60 cm.