Anampses meleagrides (Yellowtail Tamarin Wrasse) Breeding Guide

Anampses meleagrides is a sand-diving Indo-Pacific tamarin wrasse with strong sexual dichromatism and protogynous sex change. It broadcast-spawns pelagic eggs and is not bred in aquaria.

Overview

Anampses meleagrides, the Yellowtail Tamarin Wrasse, is a labrid of the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa and the Tuamotu Islands, north to southern Japan. FishBase gives a maximum total length of 22 cm, in mixed coral, rubble, limestone and sand of seaward reefs at 3-60 m, in tropical water of 24-28 °C. FishBase classifies it as oviparous with distinct pairing during breeding.

Sexing

The species shows strong sexual dichromatism. FishBase describes females as very dark brown with white or pale-yellow spots and an orange front, while males develop a deep violet body with blue spots. Reef Builders reports that females can be kept in groups and that one may change into a male. Functional sex follows social rank, so pairs cannot be reliably selected at purchase.

Conditioning

Anampses are voracious feeders once established, taking zooplankton, copepods, fish eggs, brine shrimp, mysis and krill several times a day. Reef Builders notes that they may need to be wormed because of their substrate activity. Conditioning would centre on frequent varied feeds, but no protocol leading to captive spawning has been published.

Breeding Setup

No aquarium breeding setup exists. The fish requires a soft sand bed it can dive into for refuge and sleep, plus a large tank with a wide footprint, as these are hyperactive swimmers. It spawns over open substrate rather than at a fixed nest site.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

As a labrid, A. meleagrides broadcast-spawns pelagic eggs into the water column with no parental care. Reef Builders notes that males undergo rapid short-term colour changes as social signalling during courtship and mating. The triggers are reef-scale environmental cues, not tank parameters, so spontaneous spawning is not expected in captivity.

Egg & Fry Care

Eggs and the resulting larvae are pelagic, drifting in the plankton until settlement. The very small first-feeding larval stages cannot be reared in home aquaria, which is the central reason the species is not captive-bred.

Common Challenges

The species combines an obligatory sand bed, fragility immediately after import, a need for frequent feeding and large swimming space, broadcast pelagic spawning and protogynous social biology. These factors make purposeful breeding impractical and reserve the species for experienced aquarists.