Moon Wrasse - Medium

Moon Wrasse

The Moon Wrasse has a dark green to the bluish body with shadings of purple. The yellow crescent moon markings on its tail complement perfectly the pink and violet stripes along with the head and body. They also possess red smudges located on the fins.

Non-dominant males show a more intense and vibrant colouring pattern to attract females. So far attempts at breeding the Moon Wrasse in captivity have failed. In the wild, all Moon Wrasse start off as females and change into males when needed. This process results normally in harems of fish and takes about 10 days.

This species of wrasse is an extremely active swimmer and normally quite peaceful depending on the aquarium setup. When frightened they may bury themselves in the sand to hide.

They are known as voracious eaters and have even been noticed trying to nip the dead skin of an unsuspecting snorkeler or scuba diver.

These fish are originally found in the Indo-Pacific regions ranging from East Africa to Southern Japan and even New Zealand. They tend to live in lagoons and coastal reefs and can be spotted at deep as 20 metres in small groups usually consisting of only one dominant male.

Tank Recommendations for the Moon Wrasse

The smallest tank size required for these types of fish is 300 litres. They need plenty of swimming space so a longer rather than taller aquarium is advised. They will live all over so provide them with different areas of water movement to mimic the ocean as much as possible. A sand substrate will work great but they will also need rock crevices for sleeping and hiding in when they get scared. These fish are also great jumpers so make sure to keep them in an enclosed tank.

Suitable Tank Buddies

Moon Wrasse may become territorial towards new additions to the tank so try to add them in last. Tank buddies should be other larger fish that tend to have a slightly more aggressive nature and won't tolerate bullying.

Usually Compatible

Large Angelfish, Boxfish and Damsels would be a great choice to combine with the Moon Wrasse. They will also get along fine with Tangs.

Sometime Compatible

Although the Moon Wrasse is a more peaceful species of wrasse, caution should still be taken when attempting to keep them with Dwarf Angels, Frogfish and Blennies. Butterflies, Clownfish, Cardinals and Eels must be watched carefully also. Groupers, Puffers and Parrotfish can sometimes be housed together too.

Rarely Compatible

Batfish, Seahorses and Pipefish should not be kept with the Moon Wrasse as it may end up bothering them too much. Sharks will actively hunt the wrasse. Although these fish won't touch your corals they will eat small crustaceans and invertebrates and for this reason, generally cannot be considered reef safe.

Feeding Your Moon Wrasse

This species is a carnivorous one and as such should be fed a varied protein diet. In the wild, they will consume crabs and shrimps but also fish and snail eggs. In captivity, they will thrive on small crustaceans and frozen foods such as brine and mysis shrimp. Chopped raw fish will also go down a treat as will flake foods at times. These little guys have a hearty appetite and will eat pretty much anything as long as you feed them 2-3 times daily.