TankBud

Red coris wrasse

Coris gaimard

Also known as Yellowtail Coris, Clown Coris, African Coris, Red Labrid

SaltwaterFish

Red coris wrasse (Coris gaimard)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–79°F
22–26°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
11.8 in
30 cm
Minimum tank
150 gal
568 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Own kind
One male per tank
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Bottom
Diet
Carnivore
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Very common
Reef safe
Not reef safe
Family
Labridae
Origin
Indo-Pacific reefs, from Christmas Island and the Cocos-Keeling Islands to the Society and Tuamotu Islands, north to Japan and Hawaii, south to Australia

Overview

The red coris wrasse is a sand-digging wrasse that grows large and needs a tank without invertebrates. It is best kept by someone with a little experience.

Did you know

The red coris wrasse changes appearance more dramatically than almost any other aquarium fish. Its transformation is so complete that new keepers sometimes do not realize the juvenile and adult are the same species.

Caring for the red coris wrasse

The red coris wrasse needs serious room to grow into, at least 150 gal (568 L). Give it a soft sand bed a good 7.5 to 10 cm deep. It dives headfirst into the sand to sleep at night and to hide whenever it feels threatened. It is an accomplished jumper, especially right after introduction, so fit a tight, gap-free lid from day one.

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 other meaty foods. Expect it to rearrange the sand bed regularly while it forages.

The red coris wrasse is hardy and generally easygoing with other fish. Larger adults can be semi-aggressive toward new additions, so it should usually go into the tank last. Keep only one male per tank.

It is not reef safe. It flips rocks and digs through sand hunting mollusks, worms and small crustaceans. It will eventually eat cleanup crew snails and hermit crabs, and it can even nip at clam mantles. Keep it in a fish-only or FOWLR system rather than with invertebrates.

Breeding red coris wrasses is hard. Biota's Hawaii facility produced the world's first captive-bred fish in 2019, but that first batch numbered fewer than a handful. Nearly every one sold today is still collected from the wild.

Good to know

Coris gaimard is a protogynous hermaphrodite, and a dominant female will convert to male if a group's male disappears. Juveniles are bright orange-red with black-edged white saddle markings. Adults turn blue-green, with a pink face, a bright yellow tail and fine blue speckling near the tail base. In the wild it can reach 40 cm, though aquarium fish usually settle in the 20 to 30 cm range.

In the wild

The red coris wrasse is found across a huge stretch of the Indo-Pacific. Its range runs from Christmas Island and the Cocos-Keeling Islands to the Society and Tuamotu Islands. It reaches north to Japan and Hawaii and south to Australia. It lives on sand and rubble patches around reefs at 1 to 50 m.

Common questions

What size tank does a red coris wrasse need?

A red coris wrasse needs at least 150 gal (568 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a red coris wrasse need?

A red coris wrasse is comfortable at 72–79°F (22–26°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a red coris wrasse eat?

A red coris wrasse eats a varied diet of mysis, brine shrimp and other meaty foods. It also flips rocks and digs through sand to hunt mollusks, worms and small crustaceans.

How big does a red coris wrasse get?

An adult red coris wrasse reaches about 11.8 in (30 cm).

How does a red coris wrasse breed?

Red coris wrasses are hard to breed. The first captive-bred fish came from Biota's Hawaii facility in 2019, and nearly every one sold today is still collected from the wild.

Related species