Vermiculate Wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus)

Vermiculate Wrasse Macropharyngodon bipartitus
Name	Vermiculate Wrasse
Name Lat.	Macropharyngodon bipartitus
Family	Wrasses
Family lat.	Labridae
Order	Wrasses & Relatives
Order lat.	Labriformes
Origin	Western Indian Ocean
Habitat	Coral reefs, sandy areas
Diet	Carnivore
pH	8.1-8.4
Hardness	8-10 °KH
Behavior	Peaceful
Keeping	Individual, pair
Reef Compatible	With caution
Care Level	Moderate
Life Span	2-4 years
Protection	No
Metric Units
Size	12 cm
Temperature	24-28 °C
Salinity	33-36 ‰
Aquarium	~ 350 l
US Units
Size	5"
Temperature	75-82 °F
Salinity	1.020-1.025 sg
Aquarium	~ 90 gal

Distribution and habitat

The range of Macropharyngodon bipartitus is in the western Indian Ocean, along the African coast and from Mauritius through the Seychelles to the Maldives and the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. They live there in sandy lagoons and outer reefs over mixed bottoms of coral, rock and boulders.

Maintenance

They need a well-structured aquarium with plenty of swimming space and a reef structure (hiding, resting and retreat possibilities) with living stones that act like a biological filter as well as free sand areas (no coral rubble!) for burrowing

Only lime-rich, heavy metal-free substrates may be used as substrate. Filters, skimmers and heaters are necessary to ensure water quality, as well as pumps to simulate tides, swells and bottom currents. Lighting must match the species-appropriate day-night rhythm of the animals

Salinity: 33-36 ‰	pH value: 8.1-8.4
Carbonate hardness: 8-10 °KH	Nitrate content: 2-8 mg/l
phosphate content: 0.01-0.1 mg/l	nitrite content: 0.0-0.05 mg/l

For salinity, an average value should be aimed for, which may only vary slightly by +/- 0.5 ‰. Ammonia and ammonium must not be measurable. Special attention must be paid to constantly good water quality.

Diet

In nature they feed mainly on zooplankton and crustaceans. The diet consists of commercial live and frozen foods such as mysis, krill, shrimp, artemia, and clam and crab meat; high-quality flake and granulated foods are also well accepted. It is recommended to feed small portions several times a day. This also reduces intra-species aggression and protects lower animals in the aquarium

Regular and varied feeding promotes health and increases resistance.

Behaviour and compatibility

The young fish, mostly females, are peaceful among themselves and can be kept without problems. With the sex change to male the aggression increases. Only one male should be kept with one female. Towards other fish they behave peacefully.

Sex dimorphism

They are protogynous hermaphrodites, i.e. most males develop from functional females and are called "secondary males". They are more colorful than "primary males" (born as males) and females.

Reproduction and breeding

There are no known reports of successful breeding in the aquarium.

Important

Overnight and when threatened, they bury themselves in the sandy substrate.

It is recommended to keep these typical reef inhabitants together with corals and not in a pure fish aquarium

Care should be taken when keeping them together with tubeworms, snails and crabs, as these may be considered food.

If different species are kept together, care should be taken to match the fish in terms of water quality and temperature requirements and social behavior, and to ensure that the setup meets the needs of all species kept together. New fish to be introduced must be acclimated slowly to the water in the aquarium

Further literature can be found in your pet store.

References

Text: Werner Winter; Image: petdata 

Source: KUITER, DEBELIUS (2007): Atlas der Meeresfische: Die Fische an den Küsten der Weltmeere, Kosmos Verlag; BAENSCH & DEBELIUS (2006): Meerwasser Atlas Bd. 1, Mergus Verlag; ENGELMANN (2005): Zootierhaltung - Tiere in menschlicher Obhut: Fische, Verlag Harri Deutsch

• Gemäß § 21 Abs. 5 Tierschutzgesetz idgF