Dragon Wrasse

Care at a glance

Overview

Plan for a 400 litre or larger tank with a sand bed several centimetres deep and a tight lid, since this fish jumps and rearranges the aquascape. Keep water at 23 to 27 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4. It is not reef safe and will eat shrimp, snails, crabs, and small clams while shoving rock and coral around. Feed meaty foods such as mysis, chopped clam, and krill, and house it only with bold tankmates like tangs, triggers, and larger angels.

In the wild

The dragon wrasse lives over sand, rubble, and broken coral where it forages by flipping stones to expose hidden prey. Juveniles drift near the bottom in a rocking, side to side motion that mimics a loose piece of algae. Adults claim a stretch of reef flat and dig a sand burrow where they sleep at night. It needs open bottom space and a sand bed at least 5 cm deep.

Good to know

Novaculichthys taeniourus is the only species in its genus and belongs to the wrasse family Labridae. Like most wrasses it starts life as a female and can change sex to male. Juveniles and adults look so different that they were once thought to be separate species.

Did you know

Its common name rockmover comes from its habit of turning over stones far larger than its own head to reach buried worms and crustaceans.

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