The Wrasse Lover's Thread!

[Slocke]

I cant not laugh at how grouchy that stonefish is.

That's kind of sad tbh :(

That Achillies looks nice, though.

Isn’t that a white cheek?

That post was supposed to be about the not harlequin tuskfish :face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[JoJosReef]

T. Pavo at the Barcelona aquarium

Softy tank

Something for @i cant think

Visiting Barcelona? I lived there for 8 years before moving to CA. Hoffman in the Born is best place for croissants! I didn't know they had an aquarium though... Pre-reefing days.

 

[Tcook]

Visiting Barcelona? I lived there for 8 years before moving to CA. Hoffman in the Born is best place for croissants! I didn't know they had an aquarium though... Pre-reefing days.

After visiting La Sagrada Familia I suggested going to a reef store 900 meters away. Blank stares.

 

[JoJosReef]

After visiting La Sagrada Familia I suggested going to a reef store 900 meters away. Blank stares.

They don't get it. They just don't get it.

 

[JoJosReef]

After visiting La Sagrada Familia I suggested going to a reef store 900 meters away. Blank stares.

7 Portes. Best place for paella. Bit pricey, but the arroz negro is done perfectly and not over-salted like the ones on the water, e.g. Port Olympic (although they have great mussels). Of you like squid ink, scallops and stuff like that.

 

[JoJosReef]

Reading up on Halichoeres. Apologies in advance for onslaught of questions.

1. Is fishbase.se reliable for info like size, biology and geography? Seems to reference mostly papers from the late 80s/90s.

2. Difference between H. claudia and H. biocellatus? Latter looks like it has darker shades than claudia. Similar geographic distribution. Vendors and YouTubers seem to get them mixed up. Biocellatus max at 4.7" and claudia max at 3.5" (wait, what? Mistake?). "Usually peaceful" vs. "mild temperament", respectfully (wrasseguy).

3. Why so many differences in categorizing H. chrysus as "not reef-safe" (i.e. not invert safe) along with H. melanurus, whereas H. iridis, H. cosmetus, H. biocellatus and H. claudia all show up on the reef-safe pages? Wrasseguy says rarely picks on inverts at all and many threads saying they're just fine.

4. Am I understanding correctly that Halichoeres is based on greek roots for "salt pigs"?

Whatever, when I get the monster tank, I want all of them :)

 

[Slocke]

Reading up on Halichoeres. Apologies in advance for onslaught of questions.

No apologies! Nerding out is our passion.

1. Is fishbase.se reliable for info like size, biology and geography? Seems to reference mostly papers from the late 80s/90s.

Its far from perfect but its about the best we have. Its a great place to get a nice spreadsheet from and they keep up with classification changes really well. Though their ID function is practically useless for wrasse.

2. Difference between H. claudia and H. biocellatus? Latter looks like it has darker shades than claudia. Similar geographic distribution. Vendors and YouTubers seem to get them mixed up. Biocellatus max at 4.7" and claudia max at 3.5" (wait, what? Mistake?). "Usually peaceful" vs. "mild temperament", respectfully (wrasseguy).

They're both kind of lumped in as "christmas wrasse" along with H erdmanni and H hilomeni which were fairly recently sperated from H claudia. Other than that no idea.

3. Why so many differences in categorizing H. chrysus as "not reef-safe" (i.e. not invert safe) along with H. melanurus, whereas H. iridis, H. cosmetus, H. biocellatus and H. claudia all show up on the reef-safe pages? Wrasseguy says rarely picks on inverts at all and many threads saying they're just fine.

I assume its just vendors copying eachother. I agree that chrysus is one of the more reef safe and peaceful. Really all those below 5-6" are pretty safe.

4. Am I understanding correctly that Halichoeres is based on greek roots for "salt pigs"?

Yes!! Not as fun as the "big throat tooth" wrasses, Macro(large/big)-Pharyn(pharynx)-odon(tooth) but still a fun name! I have tried to get people on here to call halichoeres "pig wrasse" since halichoeres is such a mouthful but to no avail.

Whatever, when I get the monster tank, I want all of them :)

Well except the ugly one I presume...

 

[JoJosReef]

No apologies! Nerding out is our passion.

Its far from perfect but its about the best we have. Its a great place to get a nice spreadsheet from and they keep up with classification changes really well. Though their ID function is practically useless for wrasse.

They're both kind of lumped in as "christmas wrasse" along with H erdmanni and H hilomeni which were fairly recently sperated from H claudia. Other than that no idea.

I assume its just vendors copying eachother. I agree that chrysus is one of the more reef safe and peaceful. Really all those below 5-6" are pretty safe.

Yes!! Not as fun as the "big throat tooth" wrasses, Macro(large/big)-Pharyn(pharynx)-odon(tooth) but still a fun name! I have tried to get people on here to call halichoeres "pig wrasse" since halichoeres is such a mouthful but to no avail.

Well except the ugly one I presume...

Which Halichoeres is the ugly one?

 

[dodojojo]

1. Is fishbase.se reliable for info like size, biology and geography? Seems to reference mostly papers from the late 80s/90s.

Its far from perfect but its about the best we have. Its a great place to get a nice spreadsheet from and they keep up with classification changes really well.

I agree with Slocke. It is definitely far from perfect but a great resource for at a glance info. I've found that those kind of older papers have a lot of the more basic and, more importantly, widely accepted info. If you don't want to dig into sorting through newer lit yourself, it's gonna have the generic information you need. Additionally, some people can be skeptical of any publishing that's more recent so it comes across more trustworthy to those people to have older papers referenced.

We reference it occasionally in the public sector too ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

 

[JoJosReef]

Know how we're like, "Once I get this salary" or "Once I get this house" or "Once I get a big swimming pool", "I'll have finally made it"?

What's the wrasse where you'd say that? A. femininus seems to me like a good milestone wrasse for "I finally made it".

 

[i cant think]

Know how we're like, "Once I get this salary" or "Once I get this house" or "Once I get a big swimming pool", "I'll have finally made it"?

What's the wrasse where you'd say that? A. femininus seems to me like a good milestone wrasse for "I finally made it".

Mine would have to be Chrysocehalus, my collection will never be truly complete until that wrasse is off of my wishlist (and actually obtainable).

 

[Tcook]

Mine would have to be Chrysocehalus, my collection will never be truly complete until that wrasse is off of my wishlist (and actually obtainable).

I had a juvenile one of those about 20 years ago when I didn’t know too much about wrasses.

 

[homer1475]

M. Chaoti, the only leopard I have never kept.

I've tried to buy it in the past, and things just never seem to work out. Either I payed for it, then it ended up dead, and getting a refund, or like my recent adventure, where I drove 8 hours to get it, and it was no where to be found.

One of these days. I'll eventually get one.

 

[JoJosReef]

Yes!! Not as fun as the "big throat tooth" wrasses, Macro(large/big)-Pharyn(pharynx)-odon(tooth) but still a fun name! I have tried to get people on here to call halichoeres "pig wrasse" since halichoeres is such a mouthful but to no avail.

I saw a Reefbuilders article about the throat tooth wrasses, wasn't sure if it was common to all wrasses or just the Macropharyngodon. Should pay more attention to the etymology.

 

[Slocke]

Know how we're like, "Once I get this salary" or "Once I get this house" or "Once I get a big swimming pool", "I'll have finally made it"?

What's the wrasse where you'd say that? A. femininus seems to me like a good milestone wrasse for "I finally made it".

A femininus, A lennardi, A chrysocephalus, M cyanoguttatus, M vivienae.

Saying all that I hope I never become someone who spends several hundred or more on a fish that is only slightly different to another. A neoguinaicus is a stunning fish I hope to try on a future tank and after seeing some in person is M meleagris female actually the prettiest?

 

[homer1475]

Macropharyngodon literal translation is "throat teeth".

Any of them have a beak for a mouth, and their teeth are in their throat. It's one of the reasons they are among my favorite wrasses

 

[homer1475]

M meleagris female actually the prettiest?

It's the reason I have a melagris. Passed on several ornate, and twin spots before I found a melagris. \

With that said, I personally think the potters is the prettiest, but good luck trying to get one now.

 

[Slocke]

Macropharyngodon literal translation is "throat teeth".

Any of them have a beak for a mouth, and their teeth are in their throat. It's one of the reasons they are among my favorite wrasses

You mean "big" throat teeth! :face-with-tears-of-joy:

So I have a couple questions:

1. Why don't 2-4 inch tusks exist? Tiny juveniles I see occasionally and big 4+ inch ones come around in big numbers each year but nothing in between?

2. Which Thalassoma to get? Hardwicke and goldbar are ugly. Pinkface is a bit too much. Bluehead and blunthead are a bit meh. Lunare and lutescens(banana) are beautiful but too big/aggressive? My LFS claimed the banana is less aggressive then the lunare but its bigger??

 

[i cant think]

M. Chaoti, the only leopard I have never kept.

I've tried to buy it in the past, and things just never seem to work out. Either I payed for it, then it ended up dead, and getting a refund, or like my recent adventure, where I drove 8 hours to get it, and it was no where to be found.

One of these days. I'll eventually get one.

The same adventure is happening with me… No Vivienne’s or Choati has come in.
the Vivienne’s I was told would come in this week but nope. The Choati last came in in March then just never surfaced again.

The longer I have 240 in store credit the more I start looking at Plate Corals. I have around 370 so I may grab a few corals next week.

 

[homer1475]

purpureum is cool, but I have never seen it in the trade.