Bret61081
Active member
here is what a large wholesaler out of LA posted on their webpage about this fish:
The Cirrhilabrus marjorie is a deepwater fairy wrasse endemic to the north-western waters of Fiji. Once regarded as a colorform of C. bathyphilus, these gorgeous fish were officially identified by Bruce Carlson, Gerry Allen, and Jack Randall in 2003 and named after Bruce's wife, Marjorie.
The Marjorie's Wrasse is typically found at depths of 20-50 meters where males are typically seen surrounded by a large harem of females. The males have a very distinct coloration with a bright red upper half of their body and head. The lower half of their body is grayish-white with four or five light grey horizontal stripes extending from behind the gill plate to the caudal peduncle. They have a yellow caudal fin with bold black margins and blue fringes on the dorsal and caudal fins. Females are reddish pink with a single large black spot just above their caudal peduncle. The females have been reported to sometimes be larger than the males and occasionally develop similar yellow markings on their tails. They are hardly distinguishable from several other species of female Cirrhilabrus.
Tony Nahacky of Fiji, Pete Basabe of Hawaii, and our president, Chris Buerner of California recently returned from a successful collecting expedition, hoping to find this species. Only a dozen or so pairs were collected at depths varying from 80-130 feet, all pre-sold, with half of the catch headed for the Japanese market. We only have a handful of pairs, and more won't be collected or available any time in the near future.
The Cirrhilabrus marjorie is a deepwater fairy wrasse endemic to the north-western waters of Fiji. Once regarded as a colorform of C. bathyphilus, these gorgeous fish were officially identified by Bruce Carlson, Gerry Allen, and Jack Randall in 2003 and named after Bruce's wife, Marjorie.
The Marjorie's Wrasse is typically found at depths of 20-50 meters where males are typically seen surrounded by a large harem of females. The males have a very distinct coloration with a bright red upper half of their body and head. The lower half of their body is grayish-white with four or five light grey horizontal stripes extending from behind the gill plate to the caudal peduncle. They have a yellow caudal fin with bold black margins and blue fringes on the dorsal and caudal fins. Females are reddish pink with a single large black spot just above their caudal peduncle. The females have been reported to sometimes be larger than the males and occasionally develop similar yellow markings on their tails. They are hardly distinguishable from several other species of female Cirrhilabrus.
Tony Nahacky of Fiji, Pete Basabe of Hawaii, and our president, Chris Buerner of California recently returned from a successful collecting expedition, hoping to find this species. Only a dozen or so pairs were collected at depths varying from 80-130 feet, all pre-sold, with half of the catch headed for the Japanese market. We only have a handful of pairs, and more won't be collected or available any time in the near future.
i wish! They are restricted to i believe Kwajelin atoll in marshalls (not near Majuro at all which is the main colelction atoll over there) Only Brian and a few others have ever collected there (that im aware of) My friend is suppose to take a trip over there this summer to collect some deep water species. I reserved a pair of earliis for my self