Fish ID please

[Tightlines ondad]

Hi, i have dived a few fish out on our local coastline with this wrasse being one of them , ive looked everywhere and cant pin point what wrasse it is. These are the best images i can get he is so fast and alway moving. Reason i would like to know his ID is so i can see if he is in fact reef safe for the most part.

Thank you in advance.

 

[bluemon]

Maybe a female pencil wrasse of some kind?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi, i have dived a few fish out on our local coastline with this wrasse being one of them , ive looked everywhere and cant pin point what wrasse it is. These are the best images i can get he is so fast and alway moving. Reason i would like to know his ID is so i can see if he is in fact reef safe for the most part.

Thank you in advance.

possible japanese basslet or pink pencil wrasse

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Maybe @ISpeakForTheSeas can offer some help here.

 

[Tightlines ondad]

I searched those two pencil wrasse and Japanese basslet dont see anything similar.

 

[bluemon]

I think the hardest thing will be that wrasses often are sexually dimorphic and the juveniles sometimes look DRASTICALLY different than the adults

 

[vetteguy53081]

I searched those two pencil wrasse and Japanese basslet dont see anything similar.

In this picture, face looks like that of a pseudochromis species

 

[samcob]

It could also be a (Stethojulis interrupta), Cutribbon wrasse.

 

[BetterJake]

No clue what fish it is.

Just here to say how cool it is to live near a coastline to be able to do something like this.

 

[bluemon]

It could also be a (Stethojulis interrupta), Cutribbon wrasse.

My vote is on this one, a female one at that, it is found on the shores of South Africa as well.

 

[Isosceles]

It could also be a (Stethojulis interrupta), Cutribbon wrasse.

yeah that's about right

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Maybe @ISpeakForTheSeas can offer some help here.

It could also be a (Stethojulis interrupta), Cutribbon wrasse.

For wrasse species, I usually rely on @Slocke and @i cant think (I forget the usernames of the other good wrasse ID folks - sorry; I can usually get the genus level with wrasses, but I struggle beyond that, particularly with fairy/flasher/carpenter wrasse species). That said, from my cursory glancing here, Cutribbon Wrasse looks like a promising option.

 

[Slocke]

yeah that's about right

It could also be a (Stethojulis interrupta), Cutribbon wrasse.

I agree with this. That marking on the side is pretty distinct.
Warning that Stethojulis species are often too shy and delicate for most to keep them successfully. They also seem to prefer a lot of space. However it being locally caught and not shipped over the world should help its chances.

 

[Slocke]

For wrasse species, I usually rely on @Slocke and @i cant think (I forget the usernames of the other good wrasse ID folks - sorry; I can usually get the genus level with wrasses, but I struggle beyond that, particularly with fairy/flasher/carpenter wrasse species). That said, from my cursory glancing here, Cutribbon Wrasse looks like a promising option.

Second time you've been defeated by Stethojulis…


Also Carpenter is a species of flasher. Though I’m also terrible with flashers and fairies.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Second time you've been defeated by Stethojulis…


Also Carpenter is a species of flasher. Though I also terrible with flashers and fairies.

Haha, yeah - I have to admit, though, that I've got limited incentive to learn wrasse ID in-depth when I can just tag you guys

See, I would know that if I took the time to learn more about wrasse, but whenever I start to, I get distracted by a few pretty, oddball species, and by the time I get around to the others I just think, "Eh, Slocke will know them," and start looking at other critters. (I also resort to this lazy process with chemistry, but I default to Randy and co. there).

 

[i cant think]

Hi, i have dived a few fish out on our local coastline with this wrasse being one of them , ive looked everywhere and cant pin point what wrasse it is. These are the best images i can get he is so fast and alway moving. Reason i would like to know his ID is so i can see if he is in fact reef safe for the most part.

Thank you in advance.

Seeing as you’re from South Africa, this limits the species quite quickly - definitely not a Pseudojuloides - the lines on the side don’t appear in any of the females (or even males for that - the closest to the patterning from Pseudojuloides is the Paradiseus). Also, there’s very few pencils native around the coast of Africa as a continent itself - and the only one with any scribbles is the edwardi (endemic to Kenya).

I agree with Stethojulis interrupta - the markings are just too distinct for it to be anything else.