Christmas Wrasse?

[SOCOMMike]

A local fish store had this beautiful wrasse for sale today, and I couldn't say no. It was labeled as a Christmas Wrasse, but upon coming home, I am now a wee bit unsure. If I am in the wrong forum, please forgive me, and hopefully a moderator will send me to a different section (I couldn't find an identification forum). I know that the Christmas Wrasse is not reef safe, but I feel that here is my best chance of identifying the wrasse since many Reef keepers enjoy wrasse. I just want to know exactly what he is so that I can care for him properly. Attached is a picture of the specimen in question. Any help is of great appreciation.

 

[SOCOMMike]

Thalassoma trilobatum is the scientific name if that is of any help. I can see similarity, but I don't know.

 

[evolved]

Thalassoma quinquevittatum; very much a risk to all mobile inverts and potentially to its tankmates when mature. The entire Thalassoma genus can pack an attitude, and if they see red they'll go after the eyes of a tankmate.

The various Halichoeres species which get the "Christmas" labeled applied to them are suitable for a reef tank; they do pose a small risk to snails and/or hermits, hence why they are sometimes labeled as "reef safe with caution".

 

[SOCOMMike]

Ahh, thank you so much for the help! He won't be in a reef tank, so no worries about him picking on any inverts. I just wanted to know what he truly was. There are so many fish that go under a generic name. Thank you, evolved.

 

[SOCOMMike]

Now I see similarities. Forgive the cell phone pictures. He's happily in QT with the resident damsel, whom I affectionately call nurse. One day she will be huge though, and all black.. maybe then I'll call her bruiser.

 

[evolved]

FWIW, the common name on Thalassoma quinquevittatum is "pink face wrasse".