wrasse I.D. please

[bobamike]

hello everyone,
I finally got around to taking some pics of my new wrasses,and I am not sure of thier identity,and I guess I need to know that before getting any more wrasses.sorry for the crappy pics,these guys dont sit still for pictures,




and this guy,which I believe he is a bluesided fairy wrasse,

and this guy I believe is a red fin wrasse,which my blue sided fairy wrasse attacks constantly.

 

[Marine fish man]

The first one is a blue lined Red Sea cleaner wrasse if ur still not shire go to blue zoo aquatics

 

[bobamike]

oh no! thats not good,are they as delicate and hard to keep as the regular cleaner wrasse? he does eat prepared food.I was told he is a purply cometa wrasse,but I havent found anything that looks like that.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The first fish is Pseudodax moloccanus, it gets about 10" and loses the blue stripes as it gets older, IME t never bothered corals or inverts, but the inverts I only ever kept it with were cleaner and blood shrimps. Its first 5" it grows quickly, then slows down. It is very peaceful, I have never seen it pay any aggressive attention to any other fish.

Fish #2 is in the Cyanopleara complex for sure, I cant tell from the picture, but it appears to be developing a lighter blotch on the belly/flank behind the pectorals. If this is the case than it is C. ryukyuensis, which is often misspelled as lyukyuensis. If there is no blotch than it is C. cyanopleara.

The last fish also appears to be an initial phase C. rubripinnis.

 

[bobamike]

not saying your wrong,but I googled the fish and nothing came up that looks like mine.I know the detail is not good in the pics,but aside from the coloring,his body is the same as my yellow coris wrasse,just smaller and different color.from what I have seen of the cleaners they all have the same type of bodies amonst the cleaner species,and my fish doest match the body type.if that makes any sense.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The first one is a blue lined Red Sea cleaner wrasse if ur still not shire go to blue zoo aquatics

No, it is not it is Pseudodax moluccanus, also refered to as a chiseltooth wrasse. Although it serves as a cleaner fish in the wild as a juvenile, it eats just about any foods you add to the tank and is very easy to take care of.

 

[bobamike]

No, it is not it is Pseudodax moluccanus, also refered to as a chiseltooth wrasse. Although it serves as a cleaner fish in the wild as a juvenile, it eats just about any foods you add to the tank and is very easy to take care of.

the chisel tooth is what I came up with also,but I am no expert for sure,but I agree with you.so I need to read up on them.
now the other two,the one that is being aggressive has been in the tank for a few weeks now and the red one was introduced this past saturday,which he has been in a isolation box that he jumped out of and in my overflow several times as of now I am just letting him fend for his self in the main tank,since thats where he wants to be.I taped some mirrors on the glass to help distract the attacker,it seems to help,but its funny watching the other fish fancying them selves in the mirrors to. my coral beauty is constantly up and down in front of the mirror,and the yellow tang,and yellow coris wrasse.
my question is,will this aggression pass or will the new guy end up dead? if theres no hope of them getting along I will have to remove the new guy and take him back to the store.

 

[bobamike]

ok I did a quick google search on the chisel tooth.let me ask this,so the colors he is now,those are juvenile colors correct? and when it gets bigger it will turn to a different color scheme? there where several different looking fish under that search,some that looked like my fish and a bigger less colorful fish also.

 

[eatbreakfast]

ok I did a quick google search on the chisel tooth.let me ask this,so the colors he is now,those are juvenile colors correct? and when it gets bigger it will turn to a different color scheme? there where several different looking fish under that search,some that looked like my fish and a bigger less colorful fish also.

Yes, this is the juvenile coloring, it loses the blue stripes and becomes a dark red coloring.

The aggression with the other 2 fish should subside, there will always be a little flashing, but as long as the subordinant fish isnt forced into constant hiding it should be fine, but if chasing is relentless, one of the may have to be removed.

 

[evolved]

The first fish is Pseudodax moloccanus, it gets about 10" and loses the blue stripes as it gets older, IME t never bothered corals or inverts, but the inverts I only ever kept it with were cleaner and blood shrimps. Its first 5" it grows quickly, then slows down. It is very peaceful, I have never seen it pay any aggressive attention to any other fish.

Fish #2 is in the Cyanopleara complex for sure, I cant tell from the picture, but it appears to be developing a lighter blotch on the belly/flank behind the pectorals. If this is the case than it is C. ryukyuensis, which is often misspelled as lyukyuensis. If there is no blotch than it is C. cyanopleara.

The last fish also appears to be an initial phase C. rubripinnis.

I agree with those ID's, although I still contend C. cyanopleura and C. lyukyuensis are the same genetic species.

The aggression with the other 2 fish should subside, there will always be a little flashing, but as long as the subordinant fish isnt forced into constant hiding it should be fine, but if chasing is relentless, one of the may have to be removed.

And +1 to both points here.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree with those ID's, although I still contend C. cyanopleura and C. lyukyuensis are the same genetic species.

Actually, the most recent , and therefore what is considered to be accurate by taxonomists, scientific works have C. ryukyuensis as a valid species.

As far as genetics, there are no genetic tests done on ryukyuensis and cyanopleura as of yet. But even if genetic tests come back the same they are still likely different species. This is because even though they overlap in some places and not others, in places that they do overlap they are remaining as seperate breeding populations. In fact, it is the difference in pattern, ryukyuensis having the yellow blotch on the flank, that allow the females to distinguish between the species.

An example of this in fish that I am aware of exists between Gramma loreto and Gramma dejongi. If you look at the paper describing dejongi, their populations are found among populations of loreto, and genetically they are the same among genomes tested, but morphologically dejongi remain smaller and maintain a distict breeding population.