Max length=2.8 inches
range=western pacific
minimum aquarium size=20 gal
foods & feeding=Challanging to feed. Must be provided with plenty of natural prey, which can be introduced on LR, and LS. Will eat vitamen enriched live brine shrimp and live black worms, but is a methodical feeder that does not fare well with competitors.
Reef safe, will eat brown flatworms.
Captive care=This exquisite fish should only be kept in an established aquarium with live substrate and plenty of hiding places; it will starve in a new or barren tank. Should not be kept with anemones, which will eat this fish. This is a great choice for reef aquariums. It will ignore other species, but males will attack male conspecifics, as well as male S. splendidus. May bury itselkf in the sand at night or if threatened. Males have a more elongate first dorsal spine than females.
Marine Fishes pg339
As far as hiding, mine hides pretty much all the time. She's not hiding cause she's scared, she just prefers to be in the rockwork looking for pods to eat. I have 180 pounds of LR so she has not put a dent in the pod population, but I would be afraid to get a mate. She does not, has not, ever eaen any prepared foods that I have put into the tank. HTH