by Stan & Debbie Hauter
Eight-Lined Wrasse
Photo © Scott W. MichaelCommon Name: Eight-Lined Wrasse
Hawaiian Name: Unknown
Scientific Name: Pseudocheilinus octotaenia
Source Info: Fishes of Hawaii
by Spencer Wilkie Tinker
The Eight-Lined Wrasse is easy to identify. It's body is a reddish-maroon color with eight horizontal, darker, maroon colored stripes running the length of the body.It is a Wrasse that remains small, only reaching an average length of about four inches, with some adults reaching six inches.
We see this Wrasse at depths starting at 30 feet and deeper. It is a shy and very smart fish. It lives down in the coral and when we have been collecting fish they will come up out of the coral, hang around the bottom of the net, checking it out. As soon as you try and approach it, it just goes back down into the coral. Or it takes a look at the net, finds a spot that has an opening of opportunity to go through or under the net and makes its getaway. It is not an easy Wrasse to catch.
Like most fish in The Wrasse Fish Family, the Eight-Lined Wrasse is primarily a carnivore. It will eat some plant life, but its preference is for small shrimps and crabs. It will readily eat tank fed foods of almost any kind.
It is a very shy at first, but once it gets used to being in an aquarium it becomes more bold and will take food out of your hand. The Eight-Lined Wrasse likes to hide, so be sure to give it plenty of cover.
Like most Wrasses, the Eight-Lined Wrasse likes to burrow under the sand or substrate in your tank as a means of sleeping and protection. Be sure to keep the substrate clean for them. It is a fish that can pick up bacterial diseases both internal and external easily.
You can tell if it has an internal bacterial infection because the stomach becomes bloated and puffy with the appearance of air being in the bladder. It looses the ability to swim upright and cannot stay on the bottom of the tank. It will constantly struggle to swim and exhaust itself in the process, and other fish will pick on it knowing that it is weak.
External infections can show up as ratty, frayed, blotchy looking fins and redness around the base of the pectoral fins, accompanied by cloudy eyes.
These are signs that you have poor substrate quality. If treated with the proper medications and care is taken to improve the substrate quality of your tank, the fish can recover. Putting it in a QT (quarantine tank) makes it easier to treat the fish and it prevents other fish from picking on it. For more information on First-Aid treatments and QT's visit our Fish Diseases & Treatments Center page and read our "Are QT's Really Necessary" article.
The distribution of this species extends from Hawaii and the Marshall Islands westward to the Red Sea.
With good tank conditions this fish is easy to care for, but not good for beginners. Our Fish Care Rating Level
