Wrass ID confirmation

[maroun.c]

Wondering if this is a female Hoeven's or female Richmondi.
I know the store never had a shipment from Vanatu so if they are specific to that area only I doubt it's a Richmondi. On the other hand comparing it to pics from LA its more similar to Richmondi as it has 3 spots instead of 2 of hoeven's and also the Hoeven's on LA picture seems to have a more distinct green line coming from the mouth area to underneath the eye which the wrass I got doesn't have at least for now!
Any input is appreciated.
Richmonds wrass
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1379+2907&pcatid=2907

Hoeven's wrass
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1379+2285&pcatid=2285

Mine in Introduction tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

It is a juvenile H. melanurus. H. richmondi juvenile anal fins are a brighter orange with less stripe than melanurus. The snout of richmondi is also more pointed and narrower.

H. richmondi are not limited to Vanuatu, but rather widespread Indonesia and range into the Philippines.

BTW the picture on LA of the juvenile richmondi is a pic of a juvenile melanurus.

 

[evolved]

Female melanurus is correct.

 

[MIKE NY]

here is a recent pic of my Richmond's for comparison...when it was smaller I had trouble identifing it as well, but as mentioned the snout is longer and narrower.. more so now as it has grown...

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks for the info.
Guess the LA picture was confusing indeed .

 

[EvMiBo]

I'm sorry for the crappy photo but I have the same question regarding my wrasse. I bought it about 4 years ago labeled as a melanarus but have thought it might be richmondi. I want to get two more of the same species now that I have a larger tank but am not positive on the species.

Again sorry for the image quality, if it's too bad I can try again.

http://imgur.com/0umKtPb

 

[evolved]

I can't make a definitely ID with that picture, sorry. Need something in focus.

 

[EvMiBo]

That's what I figured! I will try again tomorrow. He just swims around so fast!

 

[EvMiBo]

Okay I finally got some decent pictures.

http://imgur.com/ozUEhwx
http://imgur.com/BZDgeSV
http://imgur.com/lJiwMEq
http://imgur.com/iXpt64g
http://imgur.com/nY78ViO

 

[evolved]

H. richmondi

 

[eatbreakfast]

Actually it looks more like H. leucurus to me.

 

[evolved]

It's a possibility too.

 

[EvMiBo]

Fwiw it has 3 spots.

I'm still unsure - I had never considered H. leucurus. The big reason I want to know is because I'm going to try to get two more small females to create a trio.

Anything I can look for as the fish gets older? Something that will be a sure sign that it's one species or the other?

 

[eatbreakfast]

As it grows older H. leucurus loses the stripes along the body, whereas H. richmond keeps the stripes.

 

[evolved]

The orange hue of the anal fin still makes me pretty confident on the H. richmondi ID.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The orange hue of the anal fin still makes me pretty confident on the H. richmondi ID.

Yes, but leucurus has the orange anal fin as well.

But with the pics, particularly the 3rd, 4th, and 5th pic, the head's base color is getting darker from the gill cover forward. It's faint, and perhaps I'm just seeing things, but if that is the case, it would more likely be leucurus than richmond.