Six Line Wrasse

Looks how to spot one

Scaled, slender reef wrasse

A small, cigar-shaped wrasse with a purple to blue body crossed lengthwise by six thin orange-yellow lines. A tiny dark eyespot sits at the top of the tail base, the eyes are red, and there are blue accents along the base of the anal fin and on the pelvic fins. The tail itself has a yellow to greenish tint.2134

Personality what they are like

In the wild it is shy and secretive, usually seen in loose little groups weaving between coral branches, though curious enough to watch divers from cover. In aquariums it is lively, fast and confident. It gets along with most moderate to larger fish but can be bossy toward calm or similar-sized species, especially ones added after it has settled in.13654

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Highly energetic and on the move all day, constantly searching rockwork for tiny animals to eat. It needs plenty of live rock with crevices to explore and hide in.6

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Rated an easy-care marine fish. Acclimate slowly (a retailer suggests three hours or more). Keep a secure lid on the tank because wrasses are strong jumpers. Do not be alarmed to find a clear, cellophane-like film floating in the morning, that is the shed sleeping cocoon.46

Home where they are happiest

A marine reef aquarium of at least about 110 litres (30 US gallons); a retailer suggests 55 gallons for the best results. Use plenty of mature live rock with caves and a tight cover. It is reef safe and leaves corals and larger invertebrates alone. In the wild it is recorded at 1 to 35 m depth in water of roughly 19 to 31 °C, on clear coastal and seaward reefs with dense branching coral.6431

Food basics what goes in the bowl

A carnivore that mainly eats small crustaceans in the wild. In aquariums it takes mysid shrimp, finely chopped meaty foods, flakes and small pellets, and keeps hunting amphipods, worms, flatworms and other tiny invertebrates on the rocks between meals.164

Company who they like around

Lives in small, loose groups in the wild. In home tanks it is best kept as a single specimen alongside moderate-sized fish, and kept away from predators big enough to swallow it. Adding it last to the community helps keep the peace.164

The story where it all began

The Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker described this fish in 1857 from specimens taken at Ambon in the Moluccas, first naming it Cheilinus hexataenia. When he set up the genus Pseudocheilinus in 1862, he chose this species as its type species, and it has carried several other scientific names over the years. The species name refers to its six stripes. It became a staple of the marine aquarium hobby because it is hardy, inexpensive, small and good at eating unwanted pests, and reef keepers have long suggested it as a sturdier alternative to the green mandarinfish. Aquarium fish are still wild-collected, as the species has not been bred in captivity.265

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Least Concern (assessed 3 March 2009)1

Taxonomy

Family Labridae (wrasses). Described by Pieter Bleeker in 1857 as Cheilinus hexataenia from Ambon in the Moluccas; type species of the genus Pseudocheilinus, which Bleeker created in 1862.2