Spanish Hogfish (Bodianus rufus): Breeding Notes

Bodianus rufus is a large western Atlantic hogfish whose juveniles act as cleaners. As a protogynous, pelagic-spawning wrasse it is not bred in home aquaria.

Overview

Bodianus rufus, the Spanish hogfish, can reach 40 cm though most stay under 28 cm. Wikipedia places it in the western Atlantic from North Carolina and Bermuda through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil, on coral and rock reefs from 1 to 70 metres. Adults eat molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, worms and small fish, while young individuals act as cleaner fishes.

Sexing

Hogfishes are protogynous hermaphrodites; the Spanish hogfish matures first as female and the dominant individual becomes the terminal male. The largest, most dominant fish in a group is generally the male, with no dependable external colour difference to read sex from.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

As in other Bodianus, spawning involves a pair leaving the reef and ascending into open water to release eggs and milt. This pelagic broadcast cannot be reproduced in a home tank, and captive spawning of the Spanish hogfish is not documented.

Egg & Fry Care

Fertilised eggs are pelagic and drift in the plankton, where larvae develop before settling. No documented home rearing method exists, so aquarium animals are wild-caught from the western Atlantic.

Common Challenges

Its large adult size, broad invertebrate diet that makes it reef-unsafe in mixed systems, protogynous sex change and open-water pelagic spawning all rule out practical home reproduction. The dispersing larvae are beyond standard aquarium culture.