Lunarwrasse and clam

[RockinRichie]

Yesterday we bought a lunar wrasse to try to help with a nasty outbreak of nudibranches on our zoo's. Today I noticed him picking around our squamosa clam and thought that he might be picking around the clams shell; however, out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn that I saw him grab ahold of the clam's mantle and give it a good tug. The clam has closed up and he will not open back up..everytime he starts to open, the wrasse gets close to him and he closes back up. After about an hour, the clam started to open and I have been keeping an eye on him, and I saw the wrasse do it again. Has anyone else had any problems with wrasse's behaving like this? We were assured that the fish was reef safe but now we are worried that we are going to have to tear our reef apart to get this fish out!

 

[Gisho]

I will assure you that either the wrasse or the clam (assuming it doesn't get killed in the meantime) will have to go.

I recently had to capture 3 of my wrasses (twin-spot, yellowtail coris, and surprisingly, ornate) in my 270 after they killed three of my clams and return them to the LFS. It was VERY frustrating to say the least.

The twin-spot and yellowtail coris were my fault as I should have researched them first, instead trusting the LFS. The ornate wrasse was a bit of a surprise (and came out last after I saw it pick on clams with my own eyes), as they are not commonly known to pick at clams. I truly believe that the twin-spot and yellowtail coris taught the ornate to have a taste for clam.

Lunare wrasses (Thalassoma lunare) are known to pick at clams.
There is nothing to do to stop them from exhibiting their natural instincts/feeding behaviour.

HTH

 

[RockinRichie]

Thanks for the info. We are tearing down as we speak! :mad2:

 

[Gisho]

You're welcome, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

For me, The twin-spot and yellow-tail wrasse especially (as it would dive into the sand, under huge peices of live rock!), were the most tricky fish I've ever had to catch, and resulted in my tank getting pretty torn apart.

It was VERY frustrating to say the least. But, by the same token, watching them just tear apart three of my most prized clams was equally frustrating.

Good luck. Just be patient and take in a deep breath!

Remember it's not the fish's fault, it's only doing what thousands/millions of years of evolution taught it to do....

I wanted to flush mine down the toilet because I was so mad :mad2: so I had to remember that it was MY fault, not theirs!:lol:

 

[RockinRichie]

Well about 4 hours later and we are lunar wrasse-less..lol. Wow, what a job that was. he is definitely going back to the LFS!! Thanks again for the info!