NEWS113
22
Cirrhilabrus lineatus
Pseudanthiasaurulentus. All photos takenat theDe JongMarinelife standat the Interzoo.
Pseudanthiascalloura,
male
Pseudanthiascalloura,
female
Macropharyngodonchoati
largerindividualsarealwaysmales,and,likethe
pygmy angelfishes, wrasses almost always
undergoasexchange from femaletomale.
Cirrhilabruslineatus
This splendid dwarf wrasse grows to appro-
ximately12cm long. Itsdistribution isalmost
identical tothatof theSpectacledAngelfish.
Macropharyngodonchoati
This Australianwrasse remains even smaller:
these little fishes grow to only around 8 cm
long. It is important for allwrasses that there
should be at least a small area of sandy
bottomavailableforthemtoburythemselves
inatnight.
Pseudanthiascalloura
and
Pseudanthiasaurulentus
The basslets are close relatives of themuch
largergroupers,and like the latter theybegin
their livesasfemales.Oncetheyreachacertain
age they transform intomales, which in the
case of the basslets are very attractive in
appearance. One of the loveliest of all the
species istherare
P.calloura
.Unfortunatelythe
male in the photo isn't in courtshipdress, as
thentheyarequitebreathtakinglybeautiful.
P.
calloura
grows to around 10 cm long and
occursonlyatPalau.
Pseudanthiasaurulentus
comes fromAustralia
and grows to only 5-6 cm long. A gorgeous
little creature, but very timid, at least initially,
andarealchallenge forthephotographer.
All basslets shouldbe fed5-6 timesdailyand
thedietshouldbeasvariedaspossible.
