Yellow Wrasse (Halichoeres leucoxanthus)

SaltWaterDave · Aug 8, 2011

On Saturday I picked up a Yellow Wrasse to take care of some unwanted pests like bristle worms, pyramid snails, etc. It was swimming around the tank and ate some mysis right off the bat. Then about 1hr after I put it in the tank it burried itself in the sand because my Sailfin Tang was harrassing it. Well, I didn't see it at all yesterday which made me a bit nervous. I checked all around the tank and it didn't jump and it's not in the overflow or the refugium. I looked under the tank and it was still burried in the sand. Is it normal for them to stay burried for that long of a time if they're threatened or scared?

Here's a quick pic I took right after I put it in the tank.

soccerbag · Aug 8, 2011

It is pretty common, yes. Some wrasses, when scared, can stay buried for a week or so at a time. Give it some time, it will come out when it wants to come out. : )

SaltWaterDave · Aug 8, 2011

Thanks for the quick feedback. I can't imagine how they can stay burried in the sand that long and still breathe correctly. It blows my mind

soccerbag · Aug 8, 2011

I know. I have 2 of them. It amazes me every time I see them do it. I had a Christmas wrasse bury for over 3 weeks without ever coming out (at least I never saw him). I gave up and thought he passed on. And one day, there he was. Amazing fish for sure.

swannyson7 · Aug 8, 2011

soccerbag said:
I know. I have 2 of them. It amazes me every time I see them do it. I had a Christmas wrasse bury for over 3 weeks without ever coming out (at least I never saw him). I gave up and thought he passed on. And one day, there he was. Amazing fish for sure.

Same thing happened with my leopard wrasse a couple years ago. He disappeared 2 days after being added to the tank and I chalked him up as a goner....then a few weeks later he showed up out of nowhere.

sportzfish · Aug 8, 2011

I love the yellow and white one you have there. I have that one and the solid yellow one, and I am finding through experience (unfortunately through demise), that the yellow and white ones tend to be more skittish and less tolerable of aggression towards it. Eventually they will come out to eat, maybe a couple of days though. Interesting that a tang woud bother him though...

SaltWaterDave · Aug 8, 2011

Thanks for all the replies. It definitely helps to ease my concerns that it may be dead. I feel a lot better now as I think it's quite a cool fish.

Yeah, my Sailfin is the boss of the tank and likes to pick on any new fish I add. It still fights with my Kole and it's been in the tank for over a month now. I didn't think it would fight with a wrasse at all since its way smaller and not even close to being a similar shape.

SaltWaterDave · Aug 8, 2011

My wrasse is definitely alive. When I got home from work tonight I noticed a bunch of sand all over some of my zoanthids. I looked under the tank and sure enough its burried in a new spot. So I guess it came out for a little while anyway during the day.

SaltWaterDave · Aug 9, 2011

When I came home from work this evening the wrasse was swimming about. So I fed some mysis and it ate like a champ. It was nice to see it out and about in the tank.

droblack · Aug 9, 2011

I love finding fish alive, that were presumed to have broke on through to the other side.

SaltWaterDave · Aug 10, 2011

The wrasse is getting adjusted quite well. It's not skittish at all which is nice. Funny thing, I put some nori on the algae clip and it started picking at it along with the Sailfin. Are they known to eat algae?

toyencounters · Aug 10, 2011

Yes my wrasse eats nori!

sportzfish · Aug 10, 2011

Another thing I notice is that when they are juveniles, they are content to swim around looking for something to eat, but as they grow larger, mine have a tendency to look toward the surface like they are looking for an escape route. If I did not have a cover on there, it would have jumped out a long time ago.

SaltWaterDave · Aug 11, 2011

toyencounters said:
Yes my wrasse eats nori!

Ok, cool. Then it's not unheard of.

gofor100 · Aug 11, 2011

I actually found my yellow wrasse lying on the floor outside of the tank one afternoon after I got home from work. Thinking it was dead, I got the net out to scoop it up, then it started moving its gills and squirming a little. I quickly put it in the tank, it floated around a little, then disappeared for about a week.

I thought it was a goner and was probably a Thanksgiving Day feast for my clean up crew, but then all of a sudden, the yellow streat appeared back in my tank and he's doing great several months later!

Lessons learned... 1) Cover your tank and 2) These wrasses are VERY tough little buggers.

Good luck!

-Chad