[youtube width=”680″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79qfr7zfdCY[/youtube]
The Kuiter’s leopard wrasse we filmed in Dave Hayashi’s reef tank was not the only cool labrid we spotted in Chicago a couple weeks ago because this aquarium was also home to an exemplary specimen of the earmuff wrasse, Halichoeres xanti. Like Kuiter’s leopard wrasse the earmuff wrasse has a large noticeable spot right behind its gill plate but it also has one on the top of the caudal peduncle. Together the two spots of H. xanti help to highlight a pink body and yellow dorsal fin which mostly serves to frame the beautiful and elaborate facial markings of this gorgeous but not too big wrasse species. Like Kuiter’s leopard wrasse it is not too often that well-established specimens of earmuff wrasses are seen in home aquariums but we take note of every time we do.
