Cirrhilabrus
Cirrhilabrus
Steve,
Thank you so much for your order and your positive comments on our packaging. All of the staff here at Drs. Foster & Smith strives to provide the best possible aquatic life to our customers.
We have made the decision here at Dr. Foster & Smith to offer the more difficult species to identify in our Diver's Den section of the LiveAquaria.com web site so that customers like you can see the image of the fish before making the decision to purchase these unique items.
The identification of Fairy Wrasse of the genus Cirrhilabrus has changed drastically in the last few years. As new collection stations open or existing stations employ more experienced divers to harvest from greater depths, we have seen a sharp increase in new and exciting fishes for the aquarium trade. Some of these fish have yet to be identified scientifically.
The fish you received on your order today is pictured and described on page 41 of the book titled "Fairy & Rainbow Wrasses and Their Relatives" by Rudie H Kuiter. We had listed the fish for sale in our Divers Den section of the site as the Splendid Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus cf. lanceolatus). The fish you have received is an unidentified species according to Kuiter, hence the cf. before the species listing of the fish on our site as well as in Kuiter's book. The term cf. is commonly used by Ichthyologists to relate that the species is not confirmed, but resembles or compares to the species listed after the cf. abbreviation.
Dr. Tanaka has contributed to the scientific community and our hobby a great deal and I personally admire his research and enthusiasm when describing these new Labroises. His recent identification of Cirrhilabrus roseafascia does contradict Rudie Kuiter's identification of the fish that you show in your second post. According to Kuiter on page 40 of the same book listed above, he identifies this fish as Cirrhilabrus lanceolatus, the Long Tailed Fairy Wrasse. In order to try and better explain this contradiction we offer the fish you show in your second post on the Divers Den section of our site. This fish is listed as Cirrhilabrus lanceolatus (Kuiter) Cirrhilabrus roseafascia (Tanaka). We currently have this fish in stock and it may be found here:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?ddid=10548&siteid=20
I hope this better explains the terminology used by us here at Drs. Foster & Smith as well as one of the many references we use to try and properly identify fish for our customers.
Bottom line is we want you to be happy with your purchases from us. If you are dissatisfied we will be more than happy to refund the purchase price of the fish. Your new arrival is the third one of these fish I have every seen available in the aquarium trade. The health and well being of the animals we offer and care for is our primary concern. We would like for you to keep the fish as opposed to trying to send it back to our facility for a refund. Please feel free to contact me directly through RC or email me at
kkohen@liveaquaria.com if you wish to have a refund issued to your credit card.
Sincerely,
Kevin Kohen
Director of LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith
