Christmas wrasse

Care at a glance

Overview

One of the hardier, more adaptable Halichoeres wrasses, generally peaceful with other fish but noticeably more assertive toward other wrasses than most of its relatives, so add more timid wrasse species first if mixing them. It is reef safe and earns its keep hunting fireworms and pyramidellid snails that prey on corals and clams, though it cannot tell a pest snail from an ornamental one and may pick off small hermit crabs and shrimp along the way. Feed a varied diet of mysis, brine shrimp, and other small meaty foods a few times a day.

In the wild

Found on reef flats and slopes across much of the Indo-Pacific, from the Cocos and Christmas Islands to Hawaii and the Tuamotu Islands, north to southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef, typically at 10–40 m. It needs at least 265 litres (70 gallons) with open sand at least 5–7.5 cm deep to dive into, since it buries itself both to sleep at night and to escape anything that startles it during the day. A tight fitting lid matters here too, since it will find any gap and jump.

Good to know

Halichoeres ornatissimus is a protogynous hermaphrodite. Terminal phase males show a green body crossed with broken red stripes and a pale belly with a black spot at the center of the dorsal fin, females have red-edged green scales along the upper body and a green stripe running from the eye to the base of the tail, and juveniles are black with yellow stripes and two blue-centered eyespots on the dorsal fin. Adults reach about 15 cm.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Melanurus wrasse

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  5.5 in (14 cm) · 100 gal (380 L)

  5.5 in (14 cm)100 gal (380 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Adorned wrasse

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  5.1 in (13 cm)50 gal (190 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Radiant wrasse

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  4.5 in (11.5 cm)75 gal (284 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Yellow coris wrasse

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  4.7 in (12 cm)40 gal (150 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Twospot hogfish

  Bodianus bimaculatus

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  3.9 in (10 cm)30 gal (114 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Leopard wrasse

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  5.9 in (15 cm) · 90 gal (340 L)

  5.9 in (15 cm)90 gal (340 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)