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Okay, I’ve seen both of these fish labelled as eachother. I figured if people want to own these wrasses, we may aswell show the visual differences, both as a male and female.
From my understanding, G. caeruleus is a solid emerald green colour as a male Whereas G. varius is Blue, Green, Yellow as a male
So going by that, this is a male G. varius
and this is quite possibly what goes under the loose term of “Super Male”
Whereas this is a male caeruleus
And this is possibly a “Super Male”
But what are the visual differences between females? So, from what I’ve seen, female G. caeruleus has a yellow-ish patch that goes from her anal fin to just halfway up her body. And the female G. varius is the species we commonly see sold, with the half black body and the half grey head with black spots running through to just behind the eye.
So, going by that this is a female G. varius
and this is a female G. caeruleus
The species we most commonly are being sold is G. varius however on the odd occasion I have seen G. caeruleus being sold under the same name.
I figured I should put this out there so you know what species of bird wrasse you’re getting into as what I’ve seen, G. various is more boisterous than G. caeruleus. These fish are rather active, much more active than the fairies and flashers. They also shouldn’t be housed with smaller less aggressive wrasses due to them possibly turning against their roommates even if they’ve been together as females for so long. An aggressive wrasse will soon get its temper, I have learnt this with a G. varius, H. chloropterus and many Thalassoma species.
G. varius:
Max Size: 12 inch (1 foot)
Reef Safe: No
Temperament: Semi-Aggressive to Aggressive
Will eat small inverts such as worms, shrimp, crabs, snails and in some cases small fish (1 inch or less). They don’t always eat small fish but will often stress them out to the brink of no return.
G. caeruleus:
Max Size: 13 inch (1 foot, 1 inch)
Reef Safe: No
Temperament: Semi-Aggressive to Aggressive
Will eat small inverts such as worms, shrimp, crabs, snails and in some cases small fish but this tends to be rare, they more stress out other fish to the brink of no return.
From my understanding, G. caeruleus is a solid emerald green colour as a male Whereas G. varius is Blue, Green, Yellow as a male
So going by that, this is a male G. varius
and this is quite possibly what goes under the loose term of “Super Male”
Whereas this is a male caeruleus
And this is possibly a “Super Male”
But what are the visual differences between females? So, from what I’ve seen, female G. caeruleus has a yellow-ish patch that goes from her anal fin to just halfway up her body. And the female G. varius is the species we commonly see sold, with the half black body and the half grey head with black spots running through to just behind the eye.
So, going by that this is a female G. varius
and this is a female G. caeruleus
The species we most commonly are being sold is G. varius however on the odd occasion I have seen G. caeruleus being sold under the same name.
I figured I should put this out there so you know what species of bird wrasse you’re getting into as what I’ve seen, G. various is more boisterous than G. caeruleus. These fish are rather active, much more active than the fairies and flashers. They also shouldn’t be housed with smaller less aggressive wrasses due to them possibly turning against their roommates even if they’ve been together as females for so long. An aggressive wrasse will soon get its temper, I have learnt this with a G. varius, H. chloropterus and many Thalassoma species.
G. varius:
Max Size: 12 inch (1 foot)
Reef Safe: No
Temperament: Semi-Aggressive to Aggressive
Will eat small inverts such as worms, shrimp, crabs, snails and in some cases small fish (1 inch or less). They don’t always eat small fish but will often stress them out to the brink of no return.
G. caeruleus:
Max Size: 13 inch (1 foot, 1 inch)
Reef Safe: No
Temperament: Semi-Aggressive to Aggressive
Will eat small inverts such as worms, shrimp, crabs, snails and in some cases small fish but this tends to be rare, they more stress out other fish to the brink of no return.
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