Leopard wrasse

Care at a glance

The leopard wrasse owes its name to the network of dark spots across its body; males and females look so different that they were long taken for two species. It picks tiny crustaceans off the rock all day and sleeps buried in fine sand at night.

It is one of the trickier wrasses: fish often arrive underweight and refuse food at first. Only add it to a large, long-established reef tank with a rich micro-fauna, provide a deep layer of fine sand and feed several small portions a day.

Good to know

• Digger — needs fine sand
• Needs a mature, stable tank
• Hard to wean onto dry food

Related species

• Exquisite fairy wrasseCirrhilabrus exquisitus
• Harlequin tuskfishChoerodon fasciatus
• Copperband butterflyfishChelmon rostratus
• Lubbock’s fairy wrasseCirrhilabrus lubbocki
• Bicolor angelfishCentropyge bicolor
• Solar fairy wrasseCirrhilabrus solorensis