Breeding the Squarespot Anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia)

Pseudanthias pleurotaenia is a deep-reef, sex-changing anthias in which males bear a square flank patch; its pelagic spawning and planktonic larvae make home breeding impractical.

Overview

Pseudanthias pleurotaenia (family Serranidae), the squarespot anthias, ranges across the Pacific from Indonesia to Samoa and reaches about 20 cm in length, living at depths of roughly 10-180 m. Wikipedia notes that males display deep pink and orange with a large quadrilateral purplish blotch on the flank, while females and juveniles are yellowish; males and females form sexually separate aggregations near current-swept drop-offs.

Sexing

Wikipedia confirms this species is a sequential hermaphrodite, beginning life as a female and transitioning to male according to environmental conditions. Sexing is straightforward in adults because only males carry the distinctive square purplish flank patch over a pink-orange body.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

Like other Pseudanthias, the species is haremic with a single dominant male and is a pelagic broadcast spawner, releasing eggs and sperm into the water column. The buoyant eggs and the larvae that hatch from them drift as plankton, with no nest or parental care.

Common Challenges

Its deep, current-swept habitat, heavy zooplankton feeding requirement, pelagic eggs and long planktonic larval phase together place reproduction far outside the capacity of a home aquarium, which cannot reproduce open-water spawning or sustain continuous fine live-food cultures.