Not furry, but we like them anyway.
Lyretail Anthias
Pseudanthias squamipinnis (Peters, 1855)
Also called Sea goldie, Scalefin anthias, Orange basslet, Lyretail coralfish, Orange fairy basslet
From Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and South Africa across to Niue, north to Japan and south to Australia.12
At a glance the quick version
Females about 7 cm, males up to 15 cm total length.
Looks how to spot one
Scaled, slender anthias with a lyre-shaped tail
A slim, graceful reef fish with a deeply forked, lyre-shaped tail. The sexes look very different: females are smaller and golden orange with a violet streak under the eye, while males grow larger, turn magenta to fuchsia, carry a red patch on the pectoral fin and have a long third dorsal spine and extended tail tips.21
Personality what they are like
Sociable and busy. Groups hover above the rockwork picking food from the water, and males show off to their females. Males can be territorial toward each other, so one male per group works best.31
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Very active swimmers that spend the day in midwater and need open swimming space plus good water movement.32
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Feed small portions several times a day, which suits their plankton-picking lifestyle. Typical reef water: about 22 to 26 °C (72 to 78 °F), pH 8.1 to 8.4, dKH 8 to 12, specific gravity 1.020 to 1.025.3
Home where they are happiest
A large aquarium of at least about 130 US gallons (about 490 L) for a group, with plenty of open water above live rock. Wild fish live around coral outcrops in clear lagoons, channels and outer reef slopes, mostly at 5 to 35 m.312
Food basics what goes in the bowl
A zooplankton feeder. Offer frozen mysis, enriched brine shrimp and quality flake foods in small, frequent meals; a refugium producing copepods and amphipods is a welcome extra.13
Company who they like around
Best kept in a group of one male with several females, ideally in a species-focused or roomy reef tank. In the wild a male guards a harem of about 5 to 10 females.231
The story where it all began
Wilhelm Peters described the species in 1855. It is one of the most familiar anthias on Indo-Pacific reefs and in the aquarium hobby, and its sex change has made it a classic study species for reef biologists.12
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
All lyretail anthias start life as females; if the male disappears, the top female turns into a male within a few weeks.1
- 2
A successful male spawns every evening with one female after another.1
- 3
The midas blenny copies the golden colour of this anthias and mingles with its shoals.2
- 4
Males and females look so different that they could easily be mistaken for two separate species.2
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Least Concern (assessed March 2015)1
- Taxonomy
- Family Serranidae (subfamily Anthiadinae); described by Wilhelm Peters in 18551
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Lyretail Anthias. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- FeedingSmall amounts once or twice a dayevery day
- Temperature checkevery day
- Salinity checkevery week
- Top-upTop up evaporation with fresh RO water, not salt waterevery day
- Water testevery week
- Water changeAbout 10 to 20% of the waterevery 2 weeks
- Glass cleanevery week
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- FishBase: Pseudanthias squamipinnis fishbase.seused for origin, size, habitat, diet, reproduction, IUCN status
- Wikipedia: Pseudanthias squamipinnis en.wikipedia.orgused for names, description, colours, social structure
- LiveAquaria: Lyretail Anthias liveaquaria.comused for care level, tank size, water parameters, feeding
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.