Wrasse ID

[fishguy_8]

Hi, I saw a wrasse today at a lfs never seen it before wondering if you could tell me about it. I have an aggressive set up and considering this guy for it. He is labeled as a "Burrowing Wrasse". I saw him eating guppies and frozen squid. Color is a yellowish color and has a dark strip just by his eyes on each side. looks like his fins had a little purple on them. He seems very active. Dont know what else to tell you about him only seen him for a sec but i was interested so i figured id see what he was and the specifics of him first. thanks
Jon

[zhenya]

Can't tell from your description but here's a link to fishbase where you can look it up. In the common name window just type wrasse and it should take you there. I tried to link directly to that page but it does not seem to work.

Good luck

http://www.fishbase.org/

[Ninong]

He is labeled as a "Burrowing Wrasse". I saw him eating guppies and frozen squid.
Jon

Jon,

It's hard to say what it is since there are more than 600 different species of wrasses. And for an LFS to label a wrasse a "Burrowing Wrasse" is right up there with the one that labeled an anemone a "Stinging Anemone." Most wrasses burrow in the sand bed. That's where they sleep at night.

More importantly, it is highly unlikely that it is suitable for a 45-gal tank based on your report that it eats guppies. Feeding guppies to saltwater fish is almost as dumb as calling a wrasse a "burrowing wrasse." It sounds like it is probably one of the larger species and only the smallest wrasses would be suitable for a 45-gal tank. Most of them are just too active and most get much too large for a 45-gal tank.

You can check out Fenner's website and see if you can spot it there: www.wetwebmedia.com

Why don't you print this out and bring it to that LFS. Tell them they are the laughing stock of this whole board. Ask them if they have any more clever sayings that we can add to our dumb LFS tricks file.

[zhenya]

Good one,Ninong.It goes right up there with the remark like "Alkalinity is not important"

[fishguy_8]

will do ninong on the degrading of the lfs i give them credit for giving them squid to eat as well. i figured it was a bigger wrasse the way it ate. he ate an entire cube of squid whole and hes only about 3-4in. in length. thanks for the link and advice everyone.
Jon

[Reefland]

Hey Jon, Long time no talk pal!

We all know how those PFS can be, check this thread out:
Clownfish Scientific Name?

Later,
Scott Z.