Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse Male

Description

Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse male, Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus, also go by the name deep water wrasse.

Males and females look fairly similar. They both have yellow tinted fins and gorgeous, sunset orange bodies, nicely offset by yellow bellies. As the name suggests, males have a deep red hood that covers their head and extents past their pectoral fins. Males have large fins that sport purple and black flecks. Female red hoods have a series of pink stripes running down their sides.

Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse male, Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus, Ecology:

These beautiful fish live in the Coral sea.

The complex habitat help the wrasse avoid predation. Unlike some species, these fish do not bury themselves to sleep or hide. Instead, they have quite a nifty trick. In order to sleep safely, Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse find a nook they like. They then envelope themselves in a protective mucus coat. Supposedly, this hides the wrasses scent from predators. These sticky invisibility cloaks do not degrade your water quality like some coral wax jackets’ might.

In Nature, Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse live in groups with one male to a few or more females. Dominant males instigate spawning by preforming their courtship display. He will dash around, showing off his colours to the harem. These fish are protogynous hermaphrodites. Which means that, when they get old enough, breeding females turn into a male. As a result, all juveniles are immature females.

Deep Water Wrasse in the Aquarium:

It is important to imitate the natural environment by providing plenty of nooks and crannies for the wrasse to hide in. Hobbyists should invest in a jump guard to prevent any unfortunate mishaps.

Red Hooded Fairy Wrasse male do best when fed a varied diet. They will accept enriched frozen mysis shrimp and enriched frozen brine shrimp. They will also devour live foods, such as copepods and amphipods, that can be cultivated in attached refugium. Over time they will accept high-quality pellet or flake. We adapt all our wrasse to aquarium life before they leave us. We focus on their health, and most are eating a good quality flake food and/or pellet, such as JBL Maris, before being offered for sale.

The Fish pictured here are representative only and the livestock you receive may vary in pattern, coloration, and shape.