Christmas Wrasse

[barkdog]

I just got back from Hawaii where I did lots of snorkling. I saw a bunch of Christmas Wrasses. I've never seen one kept in an aquarium or for sale anywhere. Does anyone have experience with them? Can they be kept?

 

[barkdog]

I still haven't found info much on these, so I'm bumping the topic back up. Does anyone have any experience with the christmas wrasse?

 

[tome]

i have one. It has been in my 20g tank for over a year. He is a very colorful, hardy and good eating fish. I will try to get a pic of him if you want. Also let me know if you want to know anything else.

 

[barkdog]

Whats his temperment, etc. Isn't a 20G a little small? The ones I saw in the wild were about 8-10" long. I am thinking about adding one to my big tank, which is stocked mostly with fish that they coexist with in the wild... humu, sailfin, puffer, lion... do they do okay with others in captivity?

 

[bubbles02]

I brought a christmas wrasse into my salt tanks at work and it sold with in a day, so I can't say how it interacted with the other fish because it really didn't have time to settle in the tank. I do know that although they are mostly coral friendly, they aren't very friendly toward shrimps and such.

 

[tome]

well this guy is only about an inch and a half. He is small but the boss of the tank. He is peaceful but gets aggressive when his territory is invaded. My firefish invaded it and he killed it. Also if you get one that is only an inch or two, your lion or trigger would probally get him. He is with a perc clown, jawfish, cleaner shrip and cleaner crew and is fine with them. Here are some pics, sorry they arent great, but he is fast, and won't exactly stike a pose for a pic

 

[ophiura]

There are actually two christmas wrasse...one a smaller reef safe one and another monster. Personally, I don't recommend keeping the very large wrasses...IME even things like Lunare wrasse get to be annoying, though pretty. If I am not mistake the one gets HUGE. Let me look up another thread..........

 

[ophiura]

OK, wrote this in another thread. Try going to fishbase.org to look up specifics on them:
There are two species of wrasse in the hobby often referred to as the "Christmas wrasse" and it is extremely important to distinguish them. Thalassoma trilobatum is actually the "true" Christmas Wrasse and it gets huge (a foot or so) and is definitely not reef safe. Halichoeres ornatissimus is the reef safe variety, and is often more commonly referred to as the "ornate wrasse." It is more reef safe than the larger guy, but still a potential risk to smaller crustaceans and stuff.
When I worked in an LFS, the "christmas wrasse" we had was the one most people wouldn't want, except in a large fish only system! Just keep an eye out before buying!

 

[csupdog]

Wrasses are my favorite fish!!!!! Lunare wrasses are exciting and inexpensive perfect for the beginner hobbyist!
Christmas Wrasse, Halichoeres ornatissimus, get to ~6" would not keep with anything small and frial(eg. firefish!)
{edit - out of respect for the owner and operator of this site, please do not post links to other stores}
ophiura - you are correct... both sp. come from Christmas Island - hence the name. The Thalassoma sp. will not grow past 8-9" in a tank though. This fish is greatly more aggressive and hard to find...