Social fairy wrasse

Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis

Also known as Social wrasse, Longfin fairy wrasse, Ruby longfin fairy wrasse, Red and blue wrasse

SaltwaterFish

Social fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis) — (c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 2.8 in (7 cm)
Minimum tank: 53 gal (200 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indian Ocean and Red Sea reefs, from the Red Sea and East Africa to the western Indian Ocean
Family: Labridae

Overview

Unlike most fish in this batch, the social fairy wrasse is meant to be kept in a group, either a male with several females or a bonded pair, which is where the name comes from and where the male shows his best color. It is fully reef safe and ignores corals and inverts, making it an easy reef fish. The temperament caveat is within its own kind: it is more inclined to squabble than other fairy wrasses, so a group needs a large tank with room for the male to display without cornering the females, and you generally keep only one male. Toward other peaceful tankmates it is mild, so it maps to mostly peaceful. It swims actively in the middle and upper water column. Hold stable marine water at a pH of 8.1 to 8.4 and 23 to 27 C with a tightly covered top. Feed small meaty foods like mysis and enriched brine two or three times a day, since these active fish eat often.

In the wild

Social fairy wrasses come from Indian Ocean and Red Sea reefs, where they gather over rubble slopes and reef edges in loose groups, with a dominant male displaying to a cluster of females. They are active midwater fish that hover and dart above the rock picking zooplankton from the current. Give them a reef tank with plenty of live rock for cover and open water to swim in, at a pH of 8.1 to 8.4 and a temperature of 23 to 27 C. A tight lid is essential, since fairy wrasses are strong jumpers and will go through any gap in the cover.

Good to know

This is a fairy wrasse in the family Labridae, reaching about 7 cm, the males showing a red to pink body, blue markings, and long trailing pelvic and dorsal fins that they flick during display. Like other Cirrhilabrus it is a protogynous hermaphrodite: females can change into males, and a male intensifies his colors when courting. It is only very rarely bred in captivity, so trade fish are wild-caught.

Did you know

The males put on a real light show, flushing brighter color and flicking their long fins to court the females, and a group with several females keeps the dominant male displaying far more than a lone fish would. That is the point of keeping them social: a single male by himself often stays washed out compared to one showing off to a harem.