Fourline wrasse

Care at a glance

Overview

The fourline wrasse is the smallest line wrasse commonly kept in reef tanks, and it spends its days around the rockwork near the bottom. It is easy to keep.

Caring for the fourline wrasse

Give a fourline wrasse at least 30 gal (114 L) of rockwork riddled with crevices to patrol and duck into. A soft sand bed is fine to include, but it leans on rubble and rock gaps for cover. It is a determined jumper and can launch itself through surprisingly narrow gaps, so seal the lid completely.

Keep the water at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Feed a varied diet of mysis, brine shrimp and marine flake or pellet. It also forages on its own all day for pods and worms.

The fourline wrasse is reef safe with corals and anemones, and it hunts pyramidellid snails, bristleworms and flatworm pests. It is feisty for its size and can bully small, delicate tank mates such as ornamental shrimp. Keep it as the only member of its species or genus in the tank, since it fights with other line wrasses. Its temper shows more in cramped quarters, so give it enough rock to claim a territory away from similar bottom-dwelling fish.

Good to know

Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia is named for the four bright blue stripes that run the length of its green body. Yellow to orange shows between the stripes, and its red eyes are ringed by a whitish-blue line. At night it tucks into a rock crevice rather than burying itself in sand like a Halichoeres. There it wraps itself in a self-secreted mucous cocoon. Parrotfish share the habit, and the cocoon is thought to mask the fish's scent from predators.

In the wild

The fourline wrasse ranges across the Pacific, from Japan to Hawaii and the Austral Islands. It lives on seaward reefs at 6 to 44 m, hiding among live coral and rubble rather than staying out in the open.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Six-line wrasse

  Pseudocheilinus hexataenia

  3.1 in (8 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.1 in (8 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Eightline wrasse

  Pseudocheilinus octotaenia

  4.7 in (12 cm) · 55 gal (208 L)

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

• 

  Twospot hogfish

  Bodianus bimaculatus

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 30 gal (114 L)

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

• 

  Christmas wrasse

  Halichoeres ornatissimus

  5.9 in (15 cm) · 70 gal (265 L)

  5.9 in (15 cm)70 gal (265 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Social fairy wrasse

  Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis

  2.8 in (7 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  2.8 in (7 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Radiant wrasse

  Halichoeres iridis

  4.5 in (11.5 cm) · 50 gal (190 L)

  4.5 in (11.5 cm)50 gal (190 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)