Let Me ID Your Wrasse!

[Mgex]

Got a wrasse but have no idea what species it is? Post it here with a good, clear picture and I'll ID it for you. If you can capture a photo with the fins flared out, all the better. :wink:

And go!

Haha i walked into a very advanced persons fish room and i was like i want this wrasse and hes like i dont know what wrasse this is and its awkard because hes like late 30s early fourties and im 16 so i was just researching a few days before and saw a slippery dick wrasse and he had 3 of them and i was like oh thats a slippery dick wrasse and it was so awkward

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Earmuff is generally pretty mild in attitude. However, all Halichoeres come with some risk of eating some of your motile inverts. Some species just tend to be worse than others.
But melasmapomus is far less risky than chloropterus.

So at the very least baby Hulk is getting swapped for an Earmuff, but would you have any recommendations for a more suitable species of Wrasse that is pleasing to look at?

 

[Blueringed_Octo]

Haha i walked into a very advanced persons fish room and i was like i want this wrasse and hes like i dont know what wrasse this is and its awkard because hes like late 30s early fourties and im 16 so i was just researching a few days before and saw a slippery dick wrasse and he had 3 of them and i was like oh thats a slippery dick wrasse and it was so awkward

I had one of these actually and he was a real dick. Had to get him out. lol Lived up to his name that's for sure!

 

[Mgex]

I had one of these actually and he was a real dick. Had to get him out. lol Lived up to his name that's for sure!

Mine just went missing a few months ago it was mean too he ate all the gsp i put in there

 

[evolved]

Haha i walked into a very advanced persons fish room and i was like i want this wrasse and hes like i dont know what wrasse this is and its awkard because hes like late 30s early fourties and im 16 so i was just researching a few days before and saw a slippery dick wrasse and he had 3 of them and i was like oh thats a slippery dick wrasse and it was so awkward

And there's s good example of where using the Latin name can avoid awkward common names. :D

So at the very least baby Hulk is getting swapped for an Earmuff, but would you have any recommendations for a more suitable species of Wrasse that is pleasing to look at?

All Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus species are completely invert safe. ;)

 

[aruns]

Thanks for this awesome thread!

I got this from LFS and they didn't know what type of fairy wrasse this was. Could this be a female pintail fairy wrasse?

 

[OrionN]

Thanks for this awesome thread!

I got this from LFS and they didn't know what type of fairy wrasse this was. Could this be a female pintail fairy wrasse?

That is a C. lunatus, the Lunate Fairy wrasse.

 

[evolved]

Thanks for this awesome thread!

I got this from LFS and they didn't know what type of fairy wrasse this was. Could this be a female pintail fairy wrasse?

That's a transitional male C. cf. lunatus (from the Philippines).

 

[aruns]

@evolved @OrionN Thanks!

 

[OrionN]

Which one is this one? TIA

 

[evolved]

Which one is this one? TIA

A female of the filamentosus complex... it's hard to say with complete certainty beyond that.
I'll go out on a small limb and guess C. cyanogularis, only because of the darkness of the coloration beginning to come in on the anal fin.

 

[OrionN]

Thanks.
Additional better Pictures
A little stressed

Head

Tail

Full Image

 

[evolved]

Thanks.
Additional better Pictures
A little stressed

Head

Tail

Full Image

It's really not a matter of image quality (but those are much better, but stressed just makes it worse). Without knowing more about where they were collected, there's really no way to say for certain until it develops more.

The filamentosus complex females are a lot like many Paracheilinus females - they all look like, if not the same. You can't narrow it down with much accuracy short of knowing where exactly they came from.

 

[OrionN]

Thanks @evolved.
Well I got her. I really love my C. cyanogularis. He disappeared one day. He was really healthy and fat too. One of the carpets must have got him. I really like the coloration of almost all of the filamentosus complex. I know that they are aggressive, but the Bluethroat did not seem to be a problem in my tank. I hope she will turn out to be a Cyanogularis.

It is really hard to get good fish in Corpus Christi.

 

[OrionN]

I think it is a female Red Fin Fairy Wrasse, C. rubripinnis.

 

[evolved]

I think it is a female Red Fin Fairy Wrasse

I agree. At least it's not filamentosus! :)

 

[aruns]

My LFS sold this to me as a Juvenile or female melanarus wrasse. From all the pics I have seen on web, I am pretty sure it's a melanarus. However, I have had her for 6 months now and seen her double in size but not transition to male.

- want to confirm it she's indeed a melanarus
- can I reasonably expect her to transition to male? Could environmental factors influence the transition? I have lots of other wrasses but this is the only melanarus I have.

Thanks in advance

 

[evolved]

- want to confirm it she's indeed a melanarus

Indeed! :)

- can I reasonably expect her to transition to male? Could environmental factors influence the transition? I have lots of other wrasses but this is the only melanarus I have.

Could be soon, could be never - it's impossible to say I'm afraid. As you suspect, it's highly dependent on the hierarchy of the tank.

 

[aruns]

Thanks @evolved! She's the biggest and the most dominant of the wrasses I have. Fingers crossed :)

 

[Ciwyn]

So I got this wrasse last week as a Christmas wrasse. While it's actually a very pretty wrasse with the gold streaks down its body it I don't think it matches photos I've seen of Christmas wrasses.
Sorry it was difficult to get a good photo but hopefully you can still get an ID from this photo. If not I'll try and get a better one.