Wrasse Experts Needed (ID)

rostato

rostato

Active member
I recently fell in love with this Fairy Wrasse at a LFS, and just had to buy it! Problem is I cannot for the life of me ID it.

I can tell you that she is female, has a very scaley body (kinda like a snake) compared to most other fish, and is mostly a bright redish orange color with some purple stripes, and some blue, purple, and yellow hughes to her. Otherwise I got nothing for ya. I searched all day yesterday, and couldnt find anything remotely close.

Most pictures I find online show male or super males in order to show them with their best coloration. It's harder to find pictures of female wrasses.

So here is a TON of pics to help ID. I cannot get a good pic, so I took about 100, and here is the top 19 of them. Gives you some perspective, but does not show her true beauty.

Thanks in advance!

DSC04628.jpg


DSC04629.jpg


DSC04632.jpg


DSC04633.jpg
 
wow, normally I'm pretty good with fairy wrasses. I really have no idea what type, but if you look at the pelvic fins you can normally tell sex. The one's with longer pelvic fins are normally males.
 
Yeah, thats something I am aware of. It's definatly a female...maybe a sub adult, but more than likely a female from my limited experience.

This one is boggling my mind~!
 
it is a feamle c. rubripinnis that looks like it might be changing into a male..one of my favorite fairys..they can be a little aggressive at times but the males get very pretty blood red fins and when displayin they are very pretty..this is a pic of my male i had


redfin.jpg
 
Awesome. I will look them up, and see if I can verify that.

I have a male Pylei wrasse in there already, so she will probably stay female. I have had zero aggression problems yet because the male pylei is showing who's boss.

Thanks
 
it also kinda looks like a female tonzukai as well but which the females of both that and the rubripinnis look alot alike..i still say the later becuase you can start to see the red come in its anal fin with a slight blue trim..also having a male pylie won't necesarily keep it female..it looks like it is changing it is starting to lose the black dot at the caudal peduncle and starting to get some color in its anal and dorsal fins..but that fish is still young... keep us updated!!!
 
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Wow how ironic you posted this. I have alot of wrasses to and I have had this exact fish for 6+ months and have never been able to get a positive ID. It was definately female when I got it (bought it out a LFS labeled as "ferry" wrasse...haha) and over time it has converted to sub male and is heading towards male. It was red with a white belly and the small little black tail spot just like yours. Then the tail spot went away and the red got brighter and the glowing blue outline around the fins showed up. As wrasseguy said above they can be a little aggressive as mine definately is but a cool fish nonetheless.
 
yup..my pics are not the best..i see some though that are more orange..in fact i kept one that almost looked like a flame in color..if you could find a female or two for your pylie that would help alot in the male to keep its color
 
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