Divided Leopard Wrasse

Care at a glance

Overview

Peaceful and shy, it can become territorial toward other wrasses of similar size and shape but otherwise ignores tankmates and corals alike, making it fully reef safe. Like other leopard wrasses it is an extremely sensitive feeder that depends on a steady supply of live copepods and other small invertebrates from an established sand bed and live rock, and it is considered an expert only fish because so many specimens starve or waste away in tanks that are not ready for them. Offer small, frequent meals of mysis, brine shrimp, and other meaty foods alongside whatever it forages naturally.

In the wild

Native to the western Indian Ocean, from Zanzibar and Tanzania south to Mozambique and out to Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the Maldives, on sand flats and rubble to about 30 m. It needs a mature aquarium of at least 208 litres (55 gallons) with a soft sand bed of at least 5–7.5 cm, since it buries itself completely to sleep at night and whenever it feels threatened. Add plenty of live rock riddled with hiding spots to help it settle in, and keep the lid tight and gap-free, since leopard wrasses are expert jumpers.

Good to know

Macropharyngodon bipartitus is a protogynous hermaphrodite. Females and juveniles are white mottled with orange, yellow, brown, and light blue spots, while terminal phase males turn a vivid neon green and blue broken up by black outlined markings, a dramatic enough change that the two sexes are sometimes sold under different names. Adults reach about 13 cm. The Red Sea population once considered part of this species was reclassified as its own species, Macropharyngodon marisrubri, in 2013, so true bipartitus is now understood to range only through the western Indian Ocean.

Did you know

What aquarists long called the Red Sea leopard wrasse turned out to be different enough from this species to earn its own scientific name in 2013, Macropharyngodon marisrubri, which means true bipartitus is only found in the western Indian Ocean and not the Red Sea at all.

Related species

• 

  Leopard Wrasse

  Macropharyngodon meleagris

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

• 

  Adorned Wrasse

  Halichoeres cosmetus

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

• 

  Melanurus Wrasse

  Halichoeres melanurus

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

• 

  Radiant Wrasse

  Halichoeres iridis

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

• 

  Yellowtail Tamarin Wrasse

  Anampses meleagrides

  8.7 in (22 cm)90 gal (340 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Eightline Wrasse

  Pseudocheilinus octotaenia

  4.7 in (12 cm)55 gal (208 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)