Blue spot (tamarin) wrasse

[jbvdhp]

Hey guys I got one of these because they actually look really good with their light olive body and those stunning electric baby blue spots. I was worried at first because it wouldn't eat, and I'm sure my pod population is very low as I have plenty of fish that hunt pods.

However, now it eats mysis voraciously.

Does anyone have one they've kept long term and if so, how big is it? I know in the wild the largest one is 16", and I'm hoping it doesn't get that way. I feed my tank 1-2x/day, two MAX.

 

[MIKE NY]

I have mine about 3-4 years now and was grown from a little 1-2" juvi to about 5" now and still growing. It is constantly hunting and eats everything from pellets, flakes to all frozen. It's one of the few fish I have that will eat those mini serpant stars.... snails and hermits are also on the menu so they learned to be nocturnal. It has strong jaws and it can be heard in the next room when it hits the rocks and sand hunting and may move sand around doing so. As with all Tamarins it's a sand dweller. It's peaceful with all other fish inclouding the Tamarins I already had, but is territorial with any new ones. GL with yours. ...

 

[jbvdhp]

I have mine about 3-4 years now and was grown from a little 1-2" juvi to about 5" now and still growing. It is constantly hunting and eats everything from pellets, flakes to all frozen. It's one of the few fish I have that will eat those mini serpant stars.... snails and hermits are also on the menu so they learned to be nocturnal. It has strong jaws and it can be heard in the next room when it hits the rocks and sand hunting and may move sand around doing so. As with all Tamarins it's a sand dweller. It's peaceful with all other fish inclouding the Tamarins I already had, but is territorial with any new ones. GL with yours. ...

Mike thanks for that.

Mine has learned to eat mysis along with other fish. I don't think I'll be getting another tamarin. Does it leave cleaner shrimp alone?

Has it lost that beautiful blue dot against olive background coloration or has it changed into something else? The slim bodied tamarin wrasse profile is nice, but the wild caught fat and tall bodied fish are plain ugly!

 

[evolved]

It's a big species; I'd anticipate at least 12" in captivity eventually.

The pictures here pretty well capture the breadth of the species at various stages:
http://fishbase.org/photos/thumbnailssummary.php?Genus=Anampses&Species=caeruleopunctatus

 

[MIKE NY]

Eating everything it has a nice full body for a wrasse. It still has the nice bright blue dots along with more coloration in its fins so hopefully it stays that way for many years to come. I wouldn't trust it with shrimps either....luckily I have the Long Island Aqurium and their 20,000 gallon reef locally which take adoptions of fish and corals. I'll try and get a pic....