Bicolor Dottyback

Care at a glance

Overview

This is one of the most strikingly colored dottybacks in the hobby and also one of the feistiest: it will stake out a territory and defend it against fish two to three times its own size, and it treats similarly shaped fish, including other dottybacks and basslets, as rivals on sight. Add it last, once its tankmates are established, and keep only one per tank unless the aquarium is very large. It is otherwise reef safe and leaves corals, clams, and most invertebrates alone, though a hungry individual may pick off tiny ornamental shrimp such as sexy shrimp. It is a hardy carnivore that takes frozen mysis, brine shrimp, and prepared marine foods without any fuss.

In the wild

Found on coral reefs across the western Pacific, from Indonesia and the Philippines east to Vanuatu and Palau, where it holds a small territory around a cave or ledge on shallow, current-swept reef flats. It rarely strays far from cover, darting out to grab food and retreating the instant it feels crowded. In the tank it wants a well-established system of at least 110 liters with heavy rockwork broken into caves, since a fish this territorial needs somewhere to call its own.

Good to know

Pictichromis paccagnellae was long classified in the genus Pseudochromis before Pictichromis was split off in 2004 for a group of small, sharply two-toned dottybacks that share a distinct fin-ray count; several of its close relatives made the same move. Like other dottybacks it is a protogynous hermaphrodite, starting life as a female, and the dominant fish in a pairing develops into the male. It has been captive bred on a limited scale, though most specimens in the trade are still wild caught.

Did you know

Its purple front half and yellow rear half give it a passing resemblance to the royal gramma, which is why it is sometimes sold under the name false gramma, but the two are not close relatives and a bicolor dottyback will happily bully the real thing.

Related species

• 

  Magenta Dottyback

  Pictichromis porphyrea

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Neon Dottyback

  Pseudochromis aldabraensis

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Diadem Dottyback

  Pseudochromis diadema

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Orchid Dottyback

  Pseudochromis fridmani

  2.8 in (7 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Splendid Dottyback

  Manonichthys splendens

  5.1 in (13 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Sunrise Dottyback

  Pseudochromis flavivertex

  3.1 in (8 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)