Some more observations with my Pseudolabrus guentheri. As the only person i'm aware of who currently has one, i feel obliged to report on it even though that number probably isn't going to change.
Even after i seperated the T.amblycephalum and put it in the sump, it never recovered from the belting the guntheri gave it. It had some missing scales, but not much physcial damage. I think the stress made it sustain some kind of mental damage because it would constantly swim with it';s belly on the bottom, into corners, rock etc. Like it couldn't lift it's body off the floor.
But aside from that, he's pretty chill. Ignores my small melanurus and neoguinacus alone. Ocassionally chases my large A.meleagrides. When i added some new fish last week it chased everything for a couple hours and then stopped.
It seems to be mianly aggressive with anything of a similar size and niche to it like my thalassoma and my new Lutjanus carponotatus (which is larger and completely peaceful). It occasionally flares up at the snapper. So far it has actually been nicer than my new Thalassoma lutescens of the same size. I have a egg crate set up to seperate about 1/3 of the tank which houses my lutescens. Occasionally, somehow, the neoguinacus manages to get through the barrier and into the lutescens' side where it is usually relentlessly chased. On the other side, the gunthers ignores it. I had heard that they can't be kept with other fish but this hasn't been true so far. The best way i could describe the species is if a Thalassoma were crossed with a Choerodon, both in behaviour and physical form.
The swimming motion is much like Choerodon, but they are hyperactive just like Thalassoma. You know how Thalassoma swim like a bird? They keep their tail stiff and flap their pectoral wings. Pseudolabrus use their tail more than their other fins, but retain that same sinuous movement of the body when swimming.
They have a domineering personality like Thalassoma, but really only towards fish that are of a similar size or have a similar diet or form. My gunthers is also always the last wrasse to go to bed. My schedule goes until 10pm and it is still awake by that time. They have a green reflection from their eyes, so they clearly have some form of night vision too and are probably more crepuscular than strictly diurnal.
Ok, that was a long write up. But what i really found interesting is that whenever i change the tank's lights to full actinic (they're usually white), the gunthers goes absolutely crazy. It starts chasing and nipping the tails and fins of all the other fish in the tank. Including my massive 15cm+ personifer angelfish. If i turn the lights back to white it immediately calms down. I don't really know what's up with that.
Overall, i feel like P.guentheri is an attractive wrasse that would do well in most large fowlr tanks with moderately aggressive fish. They're definitely a good alternative to Choerodon/thalassoma/bodianus. What remains to be seen is how they do with multiple large, aggressive wrasse. In the seperated section of the tank i will be stocking my next batch of wrasses. The following will be added to this section before being released into the rest of the tank:
Coris gaimard
Coris aygula
Coris pictoides
Coris dorsomacula (if i can find one)
Bodianus pulchella
Bodianus rufus
Thalassoma nigrofasciatum
Thalassoma quinquevittatum
Thalassoma lucasanum
Anampses lennardi
Anampses twistii
Pteragogus cryptus
Choerodon fasciatus
Gomphosus varius
Halichoeres biocellatus
Cheilinus chlorourus/oxycephalus (if i can find one)
