What kind of Fairy wrasse is this?

[3rdimension]

Anybody have an idea of the type? I just bought it yesterday, doing well and the closest species I found was a flame fairy wrasse or a Lubbocks' fairy wrasse. Both of those type look kind of close but not quite. Any help on pin pointing the particular name of this fairy wrasse I'd appreciate it. thanks.

 

[Daniel Reef]

I don't know, but it sure does look beautiful. Hope you find out.

 

[jt_milstead]

Hard to tell. Is it some sort of hogfish?

 

[3rdimension]

Hard to tell. Is it some sort of hogfish?

I was wondering that myself, until I discovered it had similar behaviors to a typical wrasse. one of them was burrowing in the ground like a variety of wrasses do. The store employee thought it could be a wrasse along with another customer as well. I'll look into the hogfish species online as well to see if it comes closer to resembling one of those instead. It cost me $40.00 it's pretty cool looking. I would like to get a McCosker's flasher wrasse. those are cool!

 

[Daniel Reef]

Have you tried looking on www.fishbase.org to see if they have one there?

 

[3rdimension]

Have you tried looking on www.fishbase.org to see if they have one there?

no I haven't but a I did recently google Hog fish species and the fish I saw that closely resembles this guy is called either a candy hog fish or a twin spot hog fish. The patterns on the face and neck of this one look a bit different than the ones I saw online though. The colors and placement of the spots look the same though. Another guy from a different reef forum was saying that hog fish are basically a wrasse or related to the wrasse family. I'll take a look at the link thanks.

 

[Daniel Reef]

The yellow candy hogfish that I saw on line have a black spot at the tail as well. I couldn't find a black spot on your fish. Does it have it?

The Yellow Candy Hogfish is also referred to as the Twospot Slender Hogfish, or Yellow Hogfish. It is a bright yellow in color with faint red horizontal stripes along with a black spot behind the eye and close to the tail.

 

[jt_milstead]

I see a black spot almost on its top fin. I think its a hog fish. I used to have a candy hog, It was pretty cool, but it was a jumper, so be prepared in case...

 

[blface]

Looks like some type of Coris wrasse to me. Definetly not a fairy wrasse.
Possibly a female Coris venusta.

 

[3rdimension]

The yellow candy hogfish that I saw on line have a black spot at the tail as well. I couldn't find a black spot on your fish. Does it have it?

Here's a clearer photo of it. The spot on this fish is near the tail but closer to the top back fin and not so much near the tail. It does have two spots though. The pattern is slightly different too. The overall shape looks very similar as well.

 

[3rdimension]

Looks like some type of Coris wrasse to me. Definetly not a fairy wrasse.
Possibly a female Coris venusta.

It looks close to the coris venusta as well. similar shape, pattern and spot location is same as the coris venusta. Do their patterns and colors slightly change as they get older like some angles do?

 

[3rdimension]

It's official, I compared pictures online with other Coris Venusta "Elegant" Wrasse and that is the one. Thanks for pointing that out blface. Funny how not even some shop employees know what fish they're selling. It's a cool fish though. I like it.

 

[BeanMachine]

no I haven't but a I did recently google Hog fish species and the fish I saw that closely resembles this guy is called either a candy hog fish or a twin spot hog fish. The patterns on the face and neck of this one look a bit different than the ones I saw online though. The colors and placement of the spots look the same though. Another guy from a different reef forum was saying that hog fish are basically a wrasse or related to the wrasse family. I'll take a look at the link thanks.

NVM not a hog fish after seeing a better pick. No clue what wrasse that is. Nice tho.

 

[SDguy]

What a beautiful fish! I've never seen one like it... how big is it?

 

[Monkeyfish]

LL a juvenile C. venusta to me, but I'm no expert.

 

[jt_milstead]

I agree not a hog, after seeing the better picture. I agree with Peter, a very nice looking fish.

 

[3rdimension]

What a beautiful fish! I've never seen one like it... how big is it?

right now it's about 3 to 3.5 inches only half the size it can become. According to different online info about the coris venusta, they can reach 7 inches and their colors get more deep and rich as their patterns change a little as they get older. They're pretty hardy and come from the Hawaiian islands. The males get green and a couple different colors while the females remain red, orange and yellow.

 

[3rdimension]

LL a juvenile C. venusta to me, but I'm no expert.

Yeah it's juvenile, still has 3-4 inches to grow. I just cleaned up a lot of the small pee sized pebbles out of the tank to make it easier for it to burrow at night, for easier burrowing and less chance of harming itself.

 

[SDguy]

They sure do get gorgeous. Nice pickup! Though I think any small shrimp will be toast