Fairy wrasse Photo Library

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I don't think you've seen any pics of them because they aren't fairy wrasses :)

However, I'm glad you posted it! I always love seeing leopard wrasses. Has yours been pretty hardy and did it acclimate to prepared foods well? (heard they can be hard to get to eat)
 
DUH!!! FAIRY wrasse- what was I thinking! sorry!

At any rate- he was a little tricky at first- only ate pods. I started feeding live bloodworms and there was no turning back- now he eats anything I drop in the tank- very healthy and fat. I'm trying to find a female with little luck so far.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6750947#post6750947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sidewinder770
DUH!!! FAIRY wrasse- what was I thinking! sorry!

At any rate- he was a little tricky at first- only ate pods. I started feeding live bloodworms and there was no turning back- now he eats anything I drop in the tank- very healthy and fat. I'm trying to find a female with little luck so far.
Click to expand...

The pictured fish is a FEMALE leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris). This species is sexually dichromatic and the males are easy to differentiate.

Greg
 
Okay, I'm back. Sorry that I have not been answering lately. Traveling extensively with work for the last 4 days and also trying to get over a sever cold.

I'll try and answer all the last inquiries with this one post:

naterd1976: Yes, that is a Cook Island Scott's fairy. The magenta spot in the center is a dead giveaway. He's got an exceptionally large spot...very pretty. Just one suggestion. Get him some females as quickly as possibly or that spot will fade away with time and he'll end up looking more like the fish in the picture that sidewinder770 posted.

marcel leroux: Yes, I also think it is a Paracheilinus Angulatus from the shape of the caudal tail. Also the shape of the dorsal and anal fins seem to indicate this. A closer picture may help confirm this.

Sidewinder770: That Scott's appears to be a faded male. Could be Cooks'......GBR.....or even Holmes Reef. Once they fade, they all seem to end up looking the same as your picture. Regardless of where they came from. Please note that online stores like Liveaquaria.com provide pictures of the fish in there prettiest state of display. Sometimes the pictures are also photoshop enhanced to sway purchasing. However if you read their fine print it does state that variations are possilble from the picture.
Everyone, please don't take this as a swipe at Liveaquaria. They provide good quality fish and are pretty dependable. But their pictures of fish are greatly doctored. Not that you can't have a Scott's look as beautiful as the picture they have (see naterd1976 pic). But it's not always likely to get them that brightly colored.

pyroskennels: Lubbocks males come in two variations. The Philippines version which is light lavender on the body with a orange dorsal area. there are two dotted black lines across the top dorsal area and towards the back caudal fin. The other lubbocks comes from indonesia and they have more of a marble metallic sheen coloration. Typically a deep metalic purple marbled into orange - yellow blots of color towards the dorsal.

In both cases, wether its from the Philippines or Indonesia the females are a fairly plain pink color throughout the entire body. Likely to have a small black spot at the caudal area leading towards the tail. In this species you can't mistake a male from a female.
 
Bronco,

Thanks for the reply. A couple questions....Does the female(s) for my Scott's fairy have to be from the specific area my male is from? Can you provide a resource to where I can identify a female Scotts? In the book by Scott Michael "Marine fishes", it says that females should be introduced before or at the same time as the male, have you found this to be true? Their enviroment would be in a 90 mixed reef with only a yellow tang and a clown. How many females would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Nate
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6751109#post6751109 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sidewinder770
Really- I thought it was a sex-reversed female? I've done a little research on it but maybe not enough- I'll have to do more. Do you have any pictures or weblinks that would have more info?

Here is one of the websites I got info from- maybe I was reading it incorrectly.

http://www.uog.edu/marinelab/fish/species_html/macropharyngodon.meleagris.html
Click to expand...

Your link shows the male in the picture on the right and the female to the left. Here's another picture of the male Macropharyngodon meleagris.. There's no question that your fish is a female.

BTW, this is a notoriously difficult fish to maintain in captivity for any length of time. I mention this because I don't want anyone reading this thread to run out and buy this fish. I almost think it should only be collected by special request.

Greg
 
bronco7777- Thanks for the info- I really appreciate it. I agree that the colors some sites post are not the most accurate but I didn't expect it to be that far off. Of course I called them and they said it should look similar to the one in the picture (believe it or not) and are actually shipping me out a replacement for free- now that is good service. Of course now I will have 2 and I'm not exactly sure what to do about that since if they turn out to be the same I won't be able to keep one of them- maybe I'll luck out and it will be completely different or maybe a female ( I assume the picture I posted is of a super-male correct?). At least I have a 50g fuge to put him in till I figure it out but I think I will end up having to sell him with my luck.

GSchiemer- Thank you for the link. I have also done some reading on some other sites and I would have to say you are correct- guess I'll be looking for a male instead :)- I actually know of one locally but now I just need to convince the store to sell it to me since it's in there display tank. I also agree that this is not a beginner fish and people should do a lot of research before they buy any fish and make sure they are able to provide an appropriate envirment for the fish to not only survive but to thrive. There diet (from what I have read) is similar to a mandarin (another fish people shouldn't buy unless they can provide correctly for it) and I was well preparred in advance before getting my leopard wrasse. Take the time and research before you buy- who cares about the cost of the fish- it's not worth killing a wonderful animal based on an impulse or uninformed purchase. I am one of the lucky who has been able to provide what this fish needs to thrive and just got lucky that he eats prepared foods so well- definately not the norm for these fish.

Anyway- sorry for taking up this thread with a fish that isn't a fairy wrasse.....and to get it back on track here are a few pics of my other wrasses-

lubbockwrasse.jpg

wrasse.jpg

yellowhead.jpg

laboutiwrasse.jpg
 
naterd1976,

If you were able to get the females from the same location as the male that would obviously be ideal. But it is not necessarily easy to do that. I'd say whatever female you can grab, do so. Regardless of where it's from...as long as it is a Scott's. The females are a drab dark blue and they obviously lack the bright magenta spot in the center of the body. Another possibility is to obtain very young Scott's or babies. Wrasses typically begin life as females and only evolve into males as needed by their surroundings and the needs of continuing their line. Therefore a true juvenile will have a great percentage of being female.

Unfortunately the best resource I can provide for Scott's identification and information is not published yet. That is Hiroyuki Tanaka's Fairy & Flashers book. He is currently working on finalizing this book and I received a copy because I have contributed many photos to his book. I don't know of any online web sites to suggest. Almost 100% of all the pictures I find of Scott's are Males or juveniles....nobody cares about picturing the females because they look drab. There is a nice photo of juveniles in Rudie Kuiter's book " Fairy & Rainbow Wrasses and their relatives" (page 44). That's about it.

Scott Michael is absolutely right. You want your females in first or at the very least, introduced at the very same time as the male. Obviously its too late for that in your case. So I'd just try to locate females as quickly as possibly....and try and get them as young as possible. 4 or 5 females would be ideal. In the meantime, I'd place a mirror next to the tank to keep the male displaying his colors. This will make him think there is another rival male in the area. He'll flash to defend his area. Don't do this 24 - 7 but for a little time each day.
 
Sidewinder,

Well it all depends on the second fish you are recieving. I wouldn't call the fish that you have pictured in this thread a supermale. More likely just a dormant male. If you do receive a colored up male like the one Nate pictured then you'll have a bit of a problem on your hands. two males. One thing you might consider doing is try to trade one of those males for different fairy wrasse all together with a LFS.
If you do receive a colored up male from Liveaquaria then you'll be in the same boat as Nate. So the same suggestion that I gave Nate in my last post would apply to you if you want to pursue having a nice Scott's harem. If not, then you'll just need to be content with the Scott's slowly fading into a dark blue. I think they still are a pretty fish....even after fading. But it is obviously not as spectacular as when they are dressed up for a harem.
 
Hey Bronco7777, hope you are feeling better :)

I'm looking for a 3 inch lineatus wrasse, i know at this size they aren't very colorful. Is there a possibility that they will color up as they get older? Unless its a female then i would imagine it wouldn't.

Just trying to decide wheter i should get a huge 5-6" super male, or get a 2-3". My concern is for the 2-2" mccoskers i have in my tank. I know they would get along, but think if they were closer in size the better?

Thanks for your advice,
Steven
 
heuerfan,

Being close in size really won't affect the relationship the lineatus will have with the McCoskers. Wether you get him small or large they'll pretty much ignore each other. It's hard to say how much color a young lineatus will develop as he grows in your tank. I've had a young orangeback color up nicely and now he's just a glowing fat pig. I think if you have them fed well on their basic diet of mysis and plankton you should have a nicely colored fish develop. I also find cyclopeeze very good at helping a bit with coloration.
 
The caudal fin looks to be that of a Carpenters. The middle red line is indicative of a Carpenters with the yellow fringe just inside the outer red band. McCoskers caudal bands are blue-white. The spike on the dorsal fin is red again like a Carpenters. The pics I see of a McCoskers are yellow green spike. Finally the red ventral fin is indicative of Carpenters.

But I think the McCoskers and Carpenters are very much alike and in certain stages may be difficult to tell apart.
 
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