All fish / Serranidae

Golden Hamlet

Hypoplectrus gummigutta

Also known as golden hamlet, yellow hamlet, gold hamlet

The golden hamlet is a small, deep-bodied sea bass coloured an even bright yellow to golden orange, usually with a dark blue-black patch on the snout ringed in blue. It is kept for its striking solid colour and bold, curious nature, and it settles well in rockwork-heavy reef or fish-only tanks.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

11 cm

Temperature

23 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

200 litres

Keep as

Singly, or one per tank unless it is a large system

Diet

Carnivore: mysis, krill, chopped shrimp and other meaty frozen foods

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Central Atlantic: Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico

Breeding

Hamlets are simultaneous hermaphrodites: each fish carries both male and female tissue and pairs take turns releasing eggs at dusk. Spawning is seen sometimes in big aquariums, but raising the tiny pelagic larvae is rarely achieved.

Good to know

It eats small shrimps and very small fish, so choose tankmates and invertebrates with care, and keep hamlets apart from each other in small tanks because they fight. It is collected from the wild only occasionally, so it can be costly and hard to find.