melanurus wrasse, thoughts

[reefpro21]

so im getting a melanurus wrasse prob on wed., to get rid of my flatworms in display, i have some in the sump, are these wrasse good and reef safe? will he eat my peppermint shrimp, skunk shrimp and blood shrimp? alsi my display is a 75 with 29 sump/refugium

 

[betamed]

larger ones can be problematic. mine is 6" and smaller inverts are at risk. yellow cor\is might be better

 

[degibson84]

My brother had a Mel that was fine with inverts. Occasionally he would nip at a dwarf cerith but nothing else. Cleaner was fine.

I just added a yellow coris but he has been hiding in the sand since yesterday's acclimation.

 

[TravelinLight]

I have one and he is my favorite fish. Two cleaner shrimp and two fire shrimp and never bothers them. I will say that adding small peppermint shrimp was a failure, but boy did he love eating them.

 

[lcs]

Mine never bothered my skunk, but the shrimp was there first. I've never observed mine going after any snails or crabs, but I have noticed that my CUC doesn't seem to last long. Wouldn't hold up in court, but...

I had some flat worms when I first added him and he made quick work of them.

When you QT him, have a container filled with sand big enough for him to bury himself at night as well as a place to hide the first couple of days.

 

[hogfanreefer]

I have a Vrolik's (most feel is the same species) and he has never bothered any of my 4 shrimp (2 skunk and 2 blood). I have seen him pick at Nerites if they fall over but no other snails.

 

[reefpro21]

thanks for your info guys! makes me feel little bit more safer with this wrasse

 

[Dbondaruk]

I got one a day and a half ago, he dug himself in sand right away and have not came out yet

 

[Buzzword]

Had one for years that never bothered my Blue coral banded, cleaner or my blood red shrimp, but they were in prior to the Melanurus wrasse. Never bothered any of my CUC that I could tell. He, my radiant wrasse and mystery wrasse demolished my flat worm problem to the point I did.t even have any left in my fuge.

 

[SDguy]

Usually if the shrimp is in the tank first it's not a problem. Adding shrimp to an established wrasse, especially small shrimp like pep's can be a problem.

I'd personally pick a smaller wrasse for a 75g, like a H. biocellatus.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I have a Vrolik's (most feel is the same species) ...

Actually, nearly all scientists agree that they are closely related, but distinct species. The confusion over whether it is a synonym of melanurus has to do with with what is the accepted scientific name for vroliks wrasse. It is either Halichoeres chrysotaenia or H. vroliki.

Some contend that H. chrysotaenia is a synonym of melanurus and vroliki is therefore valid, but if one looks at the locality of the holotype of chrysotaenia it was collected outside of the range of melanurus and since chrysotaenia was described before vroliki, it is H. chrysotaenia that is the valid name.

I know that this is all boring and a little off topic, but I would hate to see misinformation perpetuated.