Difference between the Coral Sea and Vanuatu Hooded Fairy Wrasse

[roktsintst]

I have spent the day searching the for a good read on the difference between the Hooded Fairy Wrasse species. There are some from the Coral Sea and some from Vanuatu and specimens from both locals apparently have a slight color variation. While through my reading I understood that the coral sea variety are somewhat harder to come by, I can't find a good discription of the actual differences!

So...I've taken it upon myself to start a thread to help others in their quest to accuratly understand their differences.

Is Dr. Tanaka or K. Kohen, or another expert on fairy wrasses available to help out here?

Oh, and pictures of your Hoodeds and where they were collected from will definitly help! (i.e. Brad, Lemon, ect...)

 

[IFbettas]

The hooded wrasses from the coral sea don't have the "hood" but rather the entire back is red. The ones with the hood are from vanuatu. I think there's another variant from vanuatu too, but I'm not positive.

 

[roktsintst]

That is similar to my understanding of what I read. From what I understand, the coral sea varient has the redish color fade to yellow as it progresses toward the tail where the Vanuatu varient abruptly stops and becomes yellow...

 

[roktsintst]

Im wondering if these accuratly depict our assumption....

From Live Aquaria, this would hypothetically represent a Coral Sea Varient

And from Blue Zoo, this would hypothetically depict a Vanuatu Varient....

here is the Coral Sea Pair sold today on Divers Den that show a female and a changing male...

 

[LKGRenegade22]

I saw a Male from Vanuatu in a LFS and it looked just like the one you have listed under the Bluezoo picture. I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up.

 

[roktsintst]

I saw a Male from Vanuatu in a LFS and it looked just like the one you have listed under the Bluezoo picture. I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up.

I hear ya, I had an opportunity to grab some a while back and didn't do it either.

I am fascinated by the differences between them and I am excited to see the progressive differences from female to male.

 

[LemonLemon]

hi roktsintst

there are 3 variations to Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus aka, the hooded fairy wrasse.

2 of the variations come from Vanuatu.

the most commonly seen variation of the hooded with the bright red hood that separates from the orangey body hails from Efate island in Vanuatu.


(first picture from efate island, Vanuatu. pic borrowed from bluezoo)

Vanuatu also offers another variation of the Hooded fairy wrasse. this variation does not share the same locale as the one with the bright red hooded from Efate island. In fact, this variation comes from Tanna island. This variation also has a red hood, but it also has a trailing red mark that drags from the "hood" to the caudal peduncle (tail base).


(Tanna island variation pic 2. pic borrowed from my friend Dr. tanaka)

the coral sea and the australian variations are the same. this does not have distinct hoods and are usually uniformly orange or rosy red in appearance. occasionally the coral sea variant/australia variant (posted above from liveaquaria), may have a slightly darker "streak"




females from all locations look the same.

the type species for C. bathyphilus was collected at coral sea. The description paper was based on the one from coral sea without the "hood". only later on were the hooded ones collected from vanuatu.

hope that helps

 

[roktsintst]

Awesome! That is exactly what I was looking for Lemon. Thank you.

I know you have a pair of Hoodeds, would you mind posting them and let us know where they are from?

I just love the differences between them and I am excited to see how the pair coming in today matures!!!

 

[bradleyj]

Then mine would be from Vanuatu?

 

[LemonLemon]

sorry for the late reply. i would have helped earlier. but i lost my RC password and i forgot which e-mail address i used to create this account. so now the only reason i'm online here is because i ticked the "remember me" box when i sign in.

if i sign out, i'm never going to be able to log in EVER again

anyway,

here's some pictures.

firstly, here's a basket of hooded wrasses that my LFS brought in from Vanuatu (Efate). the distinct hood is there as u can see.



Here's mine when it's in it's normal state, and another two pictures when it's excited and flashing.







and here's another shipment of hooded wrasse. this time they're all from coral sea. notice how the body colour is a uniform orangey-yellow with no hood, and no streak from the hood to the tail region. some of them appear to have the distinctive streak that the tanna island morph posess, but it's temporary. as soon as they are out of their stress colouration, the body turns a uniform orange. the tanna island morph from vanuatu is rare and i've not seen them here before.

 

[LemonLemon]

Then mine would be from Vanuatu?

yes

a beautiful specimen from Efate island of vanuatu.

there's another morph from Tanna island of vanuatu that has an extra stripe from the hood to the tail.

 

[LemonLemon]

on a slightly off topic note,

i obtained the very rare female naoko fairy wrasse recently :} Dr. tanaka was very excited when i showed it to him.

 

[roktsintst]

Awesome! Thanks guys, this is exactly what I was after. I just love the sharing of info from literally all over the world.

Lemon and Brad, you both have gorgeous fish there.

anyone else have a Hooded Fairy Wrasse that they want to share? Anyone with a Coral Sea variety?

Lemon, how often do you see the coral sea variant?

 

[LemonLemon]

coral sea hooded wrasse?

extremely uncommon. i could literally count the number of times they appear with the number of fingers i have on one hand.

the above picture was a freak import with more than 20++ pieces. most other times they only come in one or two pieces and are mostly females..

 

[roktsintst]

Brad, do you see much interaction/aggression between your hoodeds and your Nahacky and or Flame wrasses? Im just wondering because of the similar coloration if there is any conflict there?

And could you please post your Nahacky pictures here when you have a free moment we can see how closely the nahacky colors compair to the various colorations of the Hooded?

 

[roktsintst]

coral sea hooded wrasse?

extremely uncommon. i could literally count the number of times they appear with the number of fingers i have on one hand.

the above picture was a freak import with more than 20++ pieces. most other times they only come in one or two pieces and are mostly females..

Awesome! Im glad I grabbed the pair from DD as I really enjoy the rare and unusual even though they are small. Its almost better that way because now I can watch the male transition into a beautiful male! :celeb1:

 

[bradleyj]

They actually hang out together. No aggression whatsoever. I'll post a couple of shots of them and try to get some new ones later today.

Lemon, Glad to see you are back here on RC. lol

 

[LemonLemon]

Awesome! Im glad I grabbed the pair from DD as I really enjoy the rare and unusual even though they are small. Its almost better that way because now I can watch the male transition into a beautiful male! :celeb1:

oh believe me. nothing's more rewarding than watching a fairy wrasse transform.

i've had a few species grow from females to big males.

for the coral sea variation there will not be the bright red hood, so the body will not differ much from the female form except for the yellow belly and the brighter colour.

the tail and fins however, will be gorgeous to watch! i love the dorsal fin of hooded fairy wrasses because it's so square shaped and the base of the dorsal fin starts further down the back compared to other fairies. it looks so unique and has a gorgeous appeal.

the tail too! one of the few species to have a beautiful double emarginate tail shape and it gets bordered in deep purple as the fish age.

a truly magnificent species.

 

[roktsintst]

Incredible!

 

[LemonLemon]

They actually hang out together. No aggression whatsoever. I'll post a couple of shots of them and try to get some new ones later today.

Lemon, Glad to see you are back here on RC. lol

glad to be back!

my laptop is fixed and i can log in using the laptop. all other computer devices cannot because i forgot my password and e-mail. only this laptop has me on "remember" status.

that attenuatus and nahackyi is so gorgeous omg i cannot describe. my friend in hong kong just bought 2 male attenuatus too! I WANT ONE