Un ID'd Cirrhilabrus species

[Anonymous]

I posted this a couple years ago and never heard anything more of it. Have these been described yet?

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

Hi, Mr. Matt Wandell,

it is Cirrhilabrus roseafascia; the Redstripe Fairy Wrasse, or Rose-band Fairy Wrasse.

It was described by Randall & Lubbock in 1982, and the description was based upon only a single individual collected at the depth of 100 meters off New Caledonia. The species has not been known except the type specimen until now, but these several years Richard Pyle found some unfamiliar specimens around 100 meters deep in Fiji and Samoa. Japanese Divers photographed some specimens in Cebu, Philippines and in Palau.

It is closely related to C. lanceolatus from southern Japan.

Now we can find some males in the aquarium trade collected in Cebu. Here is a shot of the male of the species.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the ID!

In the wild picture it appears like there are 6 white dots just above the lateral line. I don't see these in your picture. Is this a photographic effect or is it a color morph of this fish?

Matt

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

The white spots on side or back will appear when the specimen is in caution. It can be observed in an aquarium, too, but not all the species.

Here is an example of Cirrhilabrus tonozukai, male, 65mm, just arrived in home from Sulawesi. It apparently is in caution in a small plastic tank. I think that you know its normal coloration.

 

[Len]

Perhaps it's to throw off predators as to a point of attack (predators usually target the eyes/head)

My earleis develop similiar whate spots usually during early morning.

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

Hi, LEN,

Yes, it is possible that the white spots may confuse predators.

While keeping the members of Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus they often show such spots just after being introduced to the aquarium, when they feel fear, and when they are sleeping. Also they tend to change colors when they are fighting with other males of the same genus. The coloration is different, depending on the species and their moods.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah! That makes total sense, of course. Divers with bright lights would probably scare a fish a little.

Here's a shot I found of a female C. jordani doing the same thing.

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

Thank you for the nice picture !

 

[Len]

Hey Hiroyuki, so did you get your earleis yet?

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the nice picture !

Sure! I didn't take it though. I believe it is a shot by Greg Rothschild. It was in an article on Cirrhilabrus from www.reefkeeping.com.

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

Hi, LEN,

No, I have not yet obtaiend those. I am waiting for arrangement by my friends from Oahu to Fukuoka. Here in Miyazaki we have no international airport, so I should ask my friend in Fukuoka to transport them.

How about your fishes ? Have you taken shots more of his display ? - Oh, I am sorry; I should have emailed and asked you directly.

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

Matt,

Thanks for the info. Anyway that is a great shot.

Here is a photo of a young male/ large female of C. roseafascia in the aquarium; it has some white spots on the back. It shows these on occasion especially when it was threatened.

 

[Hiroyuki Tanaka]

This is Cirrhilabrus adornatus, male, 65mm, from western Sumatra.

These are the same individual and the photo above shows its normal coloration, and the rest shows the one in caution. The difference is obvious.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice shots sir!

Hi, LEN,

No, I have not yet obtaiend those. I am waiting for arrangement by my friends from Oahu to Fukuoka. Here in Miyazaki we have no international airport, so I should ask my friend in Fukuoka to transport them.

How about your fishes ? Have you taken shots more of his display ? - Oh, I am sorry; I should have emailed and asked you directly.

I made a minor edit to your post to make it more readable. The computer censor thinks that "Fukuoka" is a bad word in English and prints it as "****".