All fish / Labridae

Yellowtail Coris

Coris gaimard

Also known as red coris wrasse, clown wrasse, gaimard wrasse, african clown wrasse, yellowtail wrasse, red coris, gaimard coris, juvenile clown wrasse, ツユベラ, 露珠盔鱼, 红龙, 盖马氏盔鱼

Juveniles are bright orange-red with white, black-edged saddles. Adults look completely different, with a dark body covered in electric blue spots and a bright yellow tail. People keep it for this striking change in colour and its lively, inquisitive nature.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

30 cm

Temperature

23 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

500 litres

Keep as

Keep singly, one per tank

Diet

Carnivore: mysis, krill, chopped shellfish, squid and quality marine pellets, fed several times a day

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Indo-Pacific: Christmas Island and Cocos-Keeling east to Hawaii, the Society Islands and Tuamotus, north to Japan

Breeding

It is a protogynous hermaphrodite, so females can turn into males, and pairs spawn eggs into open water. Captive breeding has not been reported in home aquariums.

Good to know

It grows large and will eat shrimps, crabs, snails, worms and small fish, and it flips over rocks while hunting, so it is not reef safe. It needs a deep sand bed of at least 5 cm to bury itself in at night and a tightly fitting lid, as it can jump.