Fourline Wrasse

Common name: Fourline Wrasse
Scientific name: Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia
Max size: 3 inches / 7.5  cm
pH: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.020-1.025
Temperature: 72-78ºF (22-26°C)

This species is very popular because of its stunning beauty and small size which makes the Fourline wrasse suitable for small marine aquariums. It has a green body with blue and purple fins and four horizontal stripes that run across the upper half of the body. Each stripe is made up of three smaller stripes: one black stripe, one blue stripe and one red stripe. The eye is red with two white lines on it.

The Fourline wrasse is best kept as the only member of its species due to its aggression towards other line wrasses. If you want to keep more than one you'll need a large aquarium into which you introduce all line wrasses at the same time. This species is quite aggressive in aquariums and should only be kept with larger semi-aggressive fish such as marine angelfish, tangs and puffers. It should not be kept with other wrasse species. If you want to keep friendly species with your Fourline wrasse (which is risky) you should introduce these before the wrasse.

The Fourline wrasse is reef save in that regard that it doesn't touch corals or anemones, but it may eat small delicate shrimp and other small invertebrates. It will help you control organisms like pyramidellid snails, commensal flatworms, and bristleworms by eating them.

This species is relatively hardy once it has acclimatized to an aquarium and it is a species that can be recommended to people who want to start their first marine aquarium. It is important to introduce the Fourline wrasse to your tank slowly, giving it ample time to acclimate before letting it out into its new home. It is best to allow 4 hours for acclimatization before releasing it. The Fourline wrasse will be very shy for the first few days but will slowly become more and more active and visible in the tank.

The Fourline wrasse originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean where they are found from Japan in the north to Australia and the south and eastwards to Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.

Fourline Wrasse care and aquarium setup:

The Fourline wrasse is a relatively small species and it can there fore be kept in aquarium as small as 20 gallon / 80 L. It is important to create an environment where your wrasse feels safe. If the Fourline wrasse doesn't feel safe it will become stressed and very shy, spending most of its time hiding in the sand rather than swimming around showing itself off. There are two basic things to think if you want to create an environment that feels safe for you wrasses:

1. The bottom of the tank should be covered with at least 2-3 in / 5-7.5 cm sand. The sand is important as the Fourline wrasse wants to bury itself when it feels threatened and when it time for it to go to sleep.

2. Decorate the aquarium so that a lot of caves and other hiding places are created among live rock. At least some of the caves should be shaded.

This species does very well in reef setups without small shrimp but can be kept in "FOWLR" aquariums as well.

The aquarium should be well lit. Keep the water quality high and the water parameters stable. Good filtration and circulation is important if you want the Fourline wrasse, as well as most other marine species, to thrive.

The Fourline wrasse is an excellent jumper and it is important to cover the aquarium well do avoid that they jump out of the tank.

Ideal conditions for the Fourline wrasse is pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 1.020-1.025, and temperature 72-78ºF (22-26°C).

Feeding Fourline Wrasse

The Fourline wrasse is a carnivore that mainly eats micro invertebrates in the wild. They will accept most food types when kept in an aquarium including flake food and pellets. They should be fed a varied diet and you can for instance create a diet based around a high quality flake food and complement with other foods such as vitamin enriched brine shrimp and fine chopped sea food (shrimps, clams, crab). Feed your Fourline wrasse 3-4 times a day.

Breeding Fourline Wrasse

We have no information on the breeding of the Fourline wrasse. Sexing is possible since males are more colorful than females and grow larger.

Wrasse Articles:

Bird Wrasse – Gomphosus varius
Dragon Wrasse  - Novaculichthys taeniourus
Harliquin Tuskfish – Coerodon fasciatus
Hogfish - Information about Hogfish
Neon Wrasse – Halichoeres melanurus
Ornate Wrasse – Halichoeres ornatissimus
Queen Coris – Coris frerei
Radient Wrasse – Halichoeres iridis
Spanish Hogfish – Bodianus rufus
Striated Wrasse – Pseudocheilinus evanidus
Yellow Coris – Halichoeres chrysus

Line Wrasses:
Sixline Wrasse – Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Eightline Wrasse – Pseudocheilinus octotaenia

Fairy Wrasses:
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse – Cirrhilabrus exquisitus
Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse – Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
Scott's Fairy Wrasse – Cirrhilabrus scottorum
Solar Fairy Wrasse – Cirrhilabrus solorensis

Flasher Wrasses:
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse – Paracheilinus carpenteri
Dot-and-Dash Flasher Wrasse – Paracheilinus lineopunctatus
Filamented Flasher Wrasse – Paracheilinus filamentosus
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse – Paracheilinus mccoskeri