Let Me ID Your Wrasse!

chillinreefer · Oct 2, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
Enough to cover their bodies. An 1" of depth will suffice. For thoe with bare bottomed tanks a Tupperware container will be fine. Any grade finer than course will work.

So black live reef sand from caribsea not a good choice

eatbreakfast · Oct 2, 2015

chillinreefer said:
So black live reef sand from caribsea not a good choice

No, thats fine, it is not too course.

chillinreefer · Oct 2, 2015

Okay good because I just bought a new bag so I can put more sand for them

mmarro99 · Oct 2, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
Males go for between $90--$150 on average, females can be found between $45-$65. In the last year or so they have been collected much more frequently.

Crazy. .. Thank you

townjas · Oct 2, 2015

chillinreefer said:
So black live reef sand from caribsea not a good choice

No that should be fine.

Rutrag · Oct 2, 2015

Labelled as a filamented, but I'm not 100%.

eatbreakfast · Oct 2, 2015

Rutrag said:
Labelled as a filamented, but I'm not 100%.

P. angulatus, royal flasher.

Rutrag · Oct 2, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
P. angulatus, royal flasher.

That's what I was thinking, but couldn't get him to flash to look at the fin rays.

Rybren · Oct 3, 2015

Rybren said:
I came across a beautiful wrasse in an LFS today. The fellow working the shop said that it came in as a Katherine's wrasse. Looking at the images online, it looks nothing like a Katherinae.

This fish was light blue with darker spots that almost formed lines and had a very distinct diamond shaped tail that came to a point. The closest looking fish that I could find was a Rhomboid, but it was much paler than the images that I found online and the colouration was quite different. Any thoughts as to what it might be other than a Rhomboid? The price was $189

Sorry, I didn't have a camera or phone with me, so no pics

Thanks

This is why pics are so important...

1. The fish was not light blue, it was red (although, in my defence, under actinics only, the red was very muted)
2. The dots that almost formed a line weren't dots, but an actual line

The store owner was in yesterday and said that the price wasn't $189, it was $250. He also said that it wasn't a Katherinae, but was, in fact a Pintail Flasher.

Looking at pictures online of a Pintail, this fish is indeed, a Pintail. Should have snapped it up at $189

God, I hate these senior moments.

Wrassesngobies · Oct 3, 2015

So this was at petco as condei which it definitely isn't. I'm thinking it's in the pylei group. I already have one larger female like this but she has so much personality I had to buy this chick too. She has the black spot on her caudal peduncle and a small black spot on the leading edge of her dorsal fin like the other female with some faint striations on it as well, much like the close ups on the cf. cyanopleura types. The original one is much larger than male Lubbocks I have seen. The older female also has long ventral fins. Also, there are some dark horizontal stripes in the head pattern as well. Both were 40 bucks.

Zac

Duke4Life · Oct 3, 2015

Looks a bit like a c. pylei.

Wrassesngobies · Oct 3, 2015

That was my gut reaction and I have the Rainbow and Fairy Book by Kuiter, as well as the Wrasse Bible by Kuiter as well, and it really didn't match with condei, either time.

Duke4Life · Oct 3, 2015

Can you get a tail pick?

Wrassesngobies · Oct 3, 2015

It doesnt have the dark band. Surprisingly cooperative in the qt tank.

Wrassesngobies · Oct 3, 2015

Another of her. From my phone.

eatbreakfast · Oct 4, 2015

Yeah, cf. pylei.

Wrassesngobies · Oct 4, 2015

What do they usually run, price wise? The original one I have isn't aggressive at all, but she doesn't really take any crap from the flasher she is in with, who is kind of a jerk. He's actually one of the most aggressive and dominant wrasses I own. The female cf. pylei definitely knows who I am and actively begs for food, and even has rammed my fingers trying to get food. I see they are yellow on Hunter's complex chart and he says they are variable on the agro scale. The big one is nowhere close to changing to male. I've had her 4 months and she sat at petco for 3 or so, because I watched her and wanted to get her but the time was never right.

Zac

Duke4Life · Oct 4, 2015

Looks just like my pylei! I got mine for $50 which I didn't think was bad (local owned swfs).

Wrassesngobies · Oct 4, 2015

They were 40 at petco for each. A lfs has a male for 160. His quality is always good and his fish are healthy. I haven't seen pylei at the other lfs around Raleigh.