Let Me ID Your Wrasse!

eatbreakfast · Mar 18, 2016

saltyhog said:
@eatbreakfast, @ evolved.

I'm in Curacao diving this week and some friends who are snorkeling took this picture today. I haven't seen this wrasse on any of our dives and in any of our other Caribbean dives that I recall. Can you guys identify?

Male Halichoeres radiatus, puddingwife wrasse.

meno_87 said:
Thanks guys for the info, here's another photo that a bit more clear.

I still say female.

meno_87 said:
I also have another one that i need ID on last one, thanks again!

Initial phase male Cirrhilabrus cf lanceolatus (isoscoles once it is officially described).

Clackum said:
Ok help me with this one

Female in the lubbocki complex, most likely lubbocki.

Clackum said:
This one was called a Tri-color. Male or Female

Tri color wrasse is a common name for Cirrhilabrus lubbocki, this is a male from Bali.

Ozarks Magic Reef said:
Christmas wrasse
Male or female?

Still a female.

robbyrodrigues · Mar 19, 2016

I found this fish in my casting net looking for live bait (mullets) i had an empty tank only with anemones and i put him in the tank and i never saw him back. I though he had died. 2 weeks later my fishes arrived and he came out between the fishes and never hided again. He ia not afraid and swiming between the clowns once in a while throwing a bit at them. A friend of mine told me it is a wrasse. Can you con firm that? And can i keep ie in my tank with clowns, cardinals, 2 butterflies, 2 sailfin tangs one blue tail cleaner wrasse and 1 bicolr angel?

Thanks in advance for your reply

4FordFamily · Mar 19, 2016

robbyrodrigues said:
I found this fish in my casting net looking for live bait (mullets) i had an empty tank only with anemones and i put him in the tank and i never saw him back. I though he had died. 2 weeks later my fishes arrived and he came out between the fishes and never hided again. He ia not afraid and swiming between the clowns once in a while throwing a bit at them. A friend of mine told me it is a wrasse. Can you con firm that? And can i keep ie in my tank with clowns, cardinals, 2 butterflies, 2 sailfin tangs one blue tail cleaner wrasse and 1 bicolr angel?

Thanks in advance for your reply

Definitely not a wrasse? Looks like a cardinal of some sort to me but that's not my strong suit

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2016

robbyrodrigues said:
I found this fish in my casting net looking for live bait (mullets) i had an empty tank only with anemones and i put him in the tank and i never saw him back. I though he had died. 2 weeks later my fishes arrived and he came out between the fishes and never hided again. He ia not afraid and swiming between the clowns once in a while throwing a bit at them. A friend of mine told me it is a wrasse. Can you con firm that? And can i keep ie in my tank with clowns, cardinals, 2 butterflies, 2 sailfin tangs one blue tail cleaner wrasse and 1 bicolr angel?

Thanks in advance for your reply

Looks to be a juvenile parrotfish, maybe Scarus iserti.

robbyrodrigues · Mar 19, 2016

I forgot to tell you where i found it. I was casting in a bay on the north coast of Curaçao in the Caribbean.

robbyrodrigues · Mar 19, 2016

Thanks i looked it up and for sure I saw some pics of the juvenil Scarus Iserti and yes they look a lot alike.
Thanks for sharing. By the way is it save to be in my tank?

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2016

robbyrodrigues said:
Thanks i looked it up and for sure I saw some pics of the juvenil Scarus Iserti and yes they look a lot alike.
Thanks for sharing. By the way is it save to be in my tank?

Parrots are reef safe with caution. They are primarily algae eaters, but in their attempts to get at algae may inadvertently bite a coral. Their jaws are powerful and sharp, so this can damage the coral peetty badly, though not intentionally.

robbyrodrigues · Mar 19, 2016

After checking the pictures better i have to tell you that there are some differences. And a friend of mine with a lot of years experience insists that it is some kind of cleaner wrasse. So now I'm really confused what it really is.

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2016

robbyrodrigues said:
After checking the pictures better i have to tell you that there are some differences. And a friend of mine with a lot of years experience insists that it is some kind of cleaner wrasse. So now I'm really confused what it really is.

There are definitely differences in the pictures, but I attribute rhat to a combination of stage of life, environment, and stress.

It is most certainly not a species of cleaner wrasse.

robbyrodrigues · Mar 19, 2016

Thank you for your help. I will go with a juvenile parrotfish for this little fish.

khuran · Mar 21, 2016

Wow! Love this thread! As a wrasse lover and living in the Philippines and going to marine fish exporters a lot, I have a lot of pictures/wrasses that will need ID. Here is one! It was sold to me as a juvenile cirrhilabrus roseafascia but upon closer inspection and a friends suggestion, I think it is a juvenile Pylei. Any confirmation?

eatbreakfast · Mar 21, 2016

khuran said:
Wow! Love this thread! As a wrasse lover and living in the Philippines and going to marine fish exporters a lot, I have a lot of pictures/wrasses that will need ID. Here is one! It was sold to me as a juvenile cirrhilabrus roseafascia but upon closer inspection and a friends suggestion, I think it is a juvenile Pylei. Any confirmation?

Yeah, that's a female cf. pylei.

evolved · Mar 21, 2016

Ozarks Magic Reef said:
Christmas wrasse
Male or female?

Halichoeres biocellatus, and female. But more commonly referred to at the "Red lined wrasse".

eatbreakfast said:
Male Halichoeres radiatus, puddingwife wrasse.

I still say female.

Initial phase male Cirrhilabrus cf lanceolatus (isoscoles once it is officially described).

Female in the lubbocki complex, most likely lubbocki.

Tri color wrasse is a common name for Cirrhilabrus lubbocki, this is a male from Bali.

Still a female.