By Debbie & Stan Hauter
Common Name: Elegant Wrasse
Hawaiian Name: Unknown
Scientific Name: Coris venustaThe Elegant Wrasse is a rather dainty looking fish with its colors. The front half of its body is a lighter tan/brownish color, almost a light green tone to it sometimes, and the back half is a darker shade of these colors. The lines that run through the head and down part of the body are a light to vibrant pink. The sides of the body below the midline are marked by a parallel series of diagonal cross-bars that are pink on the front lighter half of the body and a blue on the darker back half.. With these color combinations this is a very beautiful fish.
It is a Wrasse that is endemic to Hawaiian waters, with similar species in other Tropical waters.
It is a Wrasse that remains fairly small, about four to five inches, with larger specimens reaching about six inches.
Like most fish in The Wrasse Fish Family they bury or hide themselves in the sand. Because it is a Wrasse that is smaller it will do less damage to your tank arrangements than some of the other larger Wrasses will do.
It is a carnivore and will eat small crustaceans and inverts. Be sure to be careful putting any of these animals in with this Wrasse or they may become a snack. They will eat shrimp, fish and other tank fed foods and are a fairly easy Wrasse to care for in an aquarium.
We give the Elegant Wrasse a
Fish Care Rating Level.
Photo use courtesy of Hawai'i Coral Reef Network
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