Moon Wrasse

Geographic Origin and Biotope: Indo-Pacific. Symbol fish of lagoon reefs and coastal reefs (from 1 to 20 m / 3 to 65 ft deep). Prefers slopes rich in live corals alternating with detrital sandy platforms.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Moon Wrasse (Thalassoma lunare). Formidable wrasse with a torpedo body and thick lips adapted to crush the exoskeleton of crustaceans. The caudal fin has the shape of a majestic crescent moon (hence the name lunare).

Social Behavior: Exhausting hyperactivity. Swims at the speed of light, patrolling every corner of the tank 100 times an hour with the classic "pectoral dart" swimming of wrasses. At nightfall it disappears (buries itself suddenly under the sand).

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Psychedelic. Hermaphrodite (females that become males). The body is neon green-light blue crossed by fine magenta/fuchsia veins on the head (facial mask). The moon tail has large bright yellow margins on a cobalt blue background.

Aquarium Setup: Free swimming track (Minimum 150 cm / 60 inches / 100G). Needs a lot of free water. Steel mesh cover mandatory: it is a phenomenal jumper and will smash light fixtures. 6 cm (2.5 inches) of soft sand mandatory to let it sleep buried, without it it will fatally injure itself trying to dig on the glass.

Diet and Feeding: Extreme carnivore (Demolisher). In nature it lifts stones and uproots shells. Voraciously eats crustaceans, mollusks, tube worms, shrimp (Lysmata) and aquarium snails. To be fed with peeled shrimp and mussels, pulverizes dry pellets.

Water Quality: Very resistant to common fish diseases. However, being a metabolic "Ferrari" that eats like a pig and digs the sand all day raising debris, it will require an excellent Skimmer so as not to let the system collapse.

Compatibility and Tankmates: Reef Safe for corals but NOT for Invertebrates and small fish. It will totally ignore corals, but your shrimp, turbo snails and small Gobies will literally be gutted in seconds. Very overbearing at mealtime, will disturb shy fish like butterflyfish.

Aquarium Reproduction: Not documented in the tank. Terminal Phase males dominate small harems of females in nature, releasing pelagic eggs on the surface during high tide.

Risks and Diseases: Lip smasher and fatal flights (Lip damage). In addition to the high probability of finding it on the floor 6 feet away (they jump), if frightened and without sand to "dive" into to sleep, it will hurl itself against the rocks at 20 mph, irreversibly destroying its mouth (inability to feed and death by starvation).