Bird Wrasse (Female) Quarantined

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Gomphosus varius

Males are a bluish green while females tend to be more subdued in color, with a creamy-tan anterior giving way to a dark-brown posterior.  For this reason, female Bird Wrasses are also known as Black or Brown Bird Wrasses. Male Bird Wrasses are often called, "Green Bird Wrasses." The Bird Wrasse was named for its elongated beak, giving it a bird like appearance.  These wrasses are robust, energetic fish and require larger tanks. Unlike some wrasses, the Bird Wrasse does not bury itself in substrate at night, so deep sandbeds are not required. All bird wrasses are born female but will change to males if the conditions are right: when they are socially dominant or there isn’t another male around.

Bird wrasses prefer areas with plenty of hiding places among corals and rocks. Bird wrasses are known for their active swimming behavior, which includes darting and hovering motions. They are carnivorous and feed on a diet consisting of small invertebrates, including crustaceans, worms, and other small organisms found within the reef substrate. At larger sizes, they may even eat small fish.

Wrasses are best known for their ability to eat pests such as fireworms, flatworms, and pyramidillid snails. The diet should include vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with marine flakes and pellet food.