Cirrhilabrus claire trio was invited to America by Quality Marine

Cirrhilabrus claire is one of our all time favorite species of fairy wrasses and lucky for us, it seems like this year might be be a fruitful one for this incredible and exciting fish from the South Pacific. Two years ago, Claire’s fairy wrasse made its aquaristic debut with specimens collected in deep waters of Tahiti by Rufus Kimura alongside equally illustrious narcosis angelfish.

A nearly "supermale" Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands at Japanese LFS AquaTailor — A nearly “supermale” Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands at Japanese LFS AquaTailor

On a subsequent trip more specimens were harvested and in November of last year, our special visit to Blue Harbor in Japan brought us the first up close and personal, intimate look at the amazing Cirrhilabrus claire. Then yesterday, we got wind that some Claire’s fairy wrasse had been collected in the Cook Islands and these fish showed exceptional coloration that is significantly different from the purple and green ones from Tahiti.

Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands. Photo Quality Marine

There’s a lot more aquarium collecting activity in the Cook Islands than Tahiti so we were given hope that more Cirrhilabrus claire could be made available in the future. Wouldn’t you know it, hours after yesterday’s earth-shattering rare fish news we received confirmation that U.S. aquarium livestock wholesaler Quality Marine had just received a trio of Calire’s fairy wrasse of their own, and they were in the process of experiencing their first American style photo shoot.

Headshot of Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands. Photo Quality Marine

The trio of Cirrhilabrus claire that arrived at Quality Marine was hand collected by Chip Boyle himself, the man after whom Paracentropyge boylei is named. One thing that is great about the Claire’s fairy wrasses that we are seeing is that they are all slightly larger, on the subadult side and we can clearly see the difference between the male and female specimens. While male at Quality Marine isn’t quite as colorful as the Japanese specimens we featured yesterday, it does have the beginnings of the fiery red and yellow coloration in the dorsal fin which makes the Cook Islands Claire’s fairy wrasse distinct from their Tahitian brethren.

Female Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands. Photo Quality Marine

Seeing as the supply for the mind-blowing Claire’s Fairy wrasse is extremely limited, you can be certain that the cost of this illustrious fish will place it firmly in the rare fish collector territory and we believe that the three Claire’s are being offered up as a trio. A huge thanks to Quality Marine for taking the time to produce these fantastic images of their Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands and we hope this is the beginning of at least a small trickle of this Holy Grail fairy wrasse into the aquarium hobby.

A studlye male Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands. Photo Quality Marine — A studly male Cirrhilabrus claire from the Cook Islands. Photo Quality Marine

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Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.