Jelwyoming,
There are numerous species of marine fishes that have a broad range across the world. The Lyretail Anthias is one such fish that can be found throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean, Indonesia and Philippines, and in the Indian Ocean and up to the Red Sea. Although the females of these fish from around the world look very similar, with slight variation in the hue of their orange coloration, males from these three distinct regions look different. For this reason some marine biologists and taxonomists have segregated these fishes from each region. All three of the fish listed below can be found in the two books listed below:
Basslets Hamlets and their Relatives, A Comprehensive Guide to Selected Serranidae and Plesiopidae- Rudie H. Kuiter, TMC Publishing 2004.
World Atlas of Marine Fishes- Rudie H Kuiter, Helmut Debelius, IKAN Publishing 2006.
Indian Ocean Lyretail Anthias- Pseudanthias squamipinnis- Formerly Serranus (Anthias) squamipinnis, Peters, 1855.
These fish are prevalent in the Indian Ocean from the East Coast of Africa, up to the Red Sea and over to Maldives and Sri Lanka. Males of this species have a long filament off of the first dorsal spine, deep lunate tail, and are vivid purple/red coloration with yellow and orange on their sides.
Indonesian Lyretail Anthias- Pseudanthias cheirospilos- Formerly Anthias cheirospilos, Bleeker, 1857.
These fish are prevalent in both Indonesia and the Philippines, Males of this species are reddish/purple with yellow outlining their scales in the sides of the fish back to the caudal peduncle, a bluish anal fin, and a blue outline on the edge of the caudal fin which is more truncated that their Indian Ocean counterpart.
Fiji Lyretail Anthias- Pseudanthias cf cheirospilos- Broken out from Anthias cheirospilos with the abbreviation cf which stand for resembles or looks like, and appears to be an undescribed species.
These fish are abundant in the Coral Sea, Papua New Guinea, and over to the Central and South Pacific. Males are mostly purple, and young males have a yellow anal fin, and the entire caudal fin is blue, and not as deeply lunate as their Indonesian counterpart. These fish lack the yellow markings or spots on their sides.
The care for all of these fishes listed above is identical. They require a large aquarium with plenty of swimming space, and frequent feedings of meaty foods such as enriched frozen mysis and enriched frozen brine shrimp. We feed all Anthias offered in the Divers Den section of the LiveAquaria.com web site 6-8 times per day.
Happy Fishkeeping!
