Centrolabrus melanocercus, the black-tailed wrasse, is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the wrasse family Labridae which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

[2] This species was formally described in 1810 as Lutjanus melanocercus by Antoine Risso with the type locality given as Saint Hospice near Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean coast of France.

[3] This species was regarded as a member of the genus Symphodus but meristic and behavioural data placed it closer to the rock cook than the sexually dimorphic paternal nesting fishes in Symphodus.

[4] This species prefers areas with rocks or eelgrass at depths from 1 to 25 m (3.3 to 82.0 ft).

It can reach 14 cm (5.5 in) in total length, though most do not exceed 11 cm (4.3 in).