Ornate Leopard Wrasse - Medium

These fish have a reddish-black gradated body with yellow and green dots scattered around wavy bands on their faces. Juveniles have a more metallic colouring and can grow up to around 5 inches (13 cm) in length. They are a lovely peaceful fish that can be very active when they want to be, but they aren't suitable for inexperienced aquarium owners.

Females are very similar looking to males but with an added black spot located on the spine. It is worth noting that this species has the ability to change sexes with all juveniles starting life as females and developing into males when required. Spawning has occurred in captivity, but due to the difficulty of keeping these fish no success has been had when attempting to raise the offspring.

The Ornate Leopard Wrasse loves to sleep in the sand bed and will more than likely adapt a sleeping schedule so don't be surprised if it is still on Indo-Pacific time when you first receive it, it'll soon adapt. They can act a little strangely when first waking up which is usually to discourage any possible predators that it isn't aware of.

This species is originally found all over the Indo-Pacific region ranging from New Guinea over to Indonesia and Sri Lanka. They have been spotted at depths down to 30 metres and normally hanging around rubble areas of lagoons and reefs. They maintain small groups of one male and several females but have also been found individually.

Tank Recommendations for Ornate Leopard Wrasse

The smallest tank size required for this species is 190 litres. Part of the difficulty of keeping them is ensuring that you only add them to an already well-established tank with plenty of live rock and a living sand substrate. No special light or water movement requirements are necessary but make sure that you have a deep fine sand bed for them to bury themselves in. They will do wonderfully in most mature reef environments but sadly won't fair well in any other type of aquarium setup.

Suitable Tank Buddies

This is one of the few species of wrasse that can be kept with others of the same kind as long as there is only one male present. They are peaceful harmonious fish and will blend well into a variety of communities with other peaceful and semi-aggressive fish.

Usually Compatible

This species will get along great with large species of Angelfish, Damselfish and Fancy DamselFish. Tangs should also not pose any problem either and Boxfish are another great choice.

Sometime Compatible

Take caution when selecting tank buddies to make sure that they aren't big enough to fit your wrasse in their mouths. Species that can sometimes be problematic include Butterflyfish, Cardinalfish and Clownfish. Groupers, Filefish and Pufferfish should be watched carefully as well. It's also quite possible to keep them with Snappers and Triggerfish too as long as you're careful.

Rarely Compatible

Batfish should be avoided totally when housing Ornate Leopard Wrasses. Be aware that they will prey upon small species of invertebrates and crustaceans. Larger predators such as Sharks should not even be considered and avoid keeping them with shy, docile fish such as Seahorses and Pipefish.

Feeding your Ornate Leopard Wrasse

These fish are carnivorous and in the wild will feast upon small invertebrates as well as amphipods and copepods. For this reason a large percentage of their diet should be naturally occurring in your tank already. To supplement feed them several times a day live foods such as black worms and small feeder shrimp. You can then slowly progress them onto mysis shrimp, krill and mussel meat. Plankton would also be ideal.