Cirrhilabrus Naokoae.

[yikai]

Cirrhilabrus naokoae was recently described by Dr. Hiroyuki Tanaka and was thoughtfully named after Dr. Tanaka’s wife.

The fairy wrasse Cirrilabrus naokoae is described as a new species from three male specimens obtained via the aquarium trade; the probable locality is the vicinity of Medan on the northwest coast of Sumatra. It is related to C. joanallenae, C. morrisoni, and C. rubriventralis, which share the characters in the male of an elevated anterior part of the dorsal fin, very large pelvic fins, a single row of scales on the cheek, and some features of colour. It is most similar to C. joanallenae, differing in having the anterior lobe of the dorsal fin about one-fourth of the standard length (instead of a pennant from the first two dorsal spines as long or longer than the standard length in C. joanallenae), having 16 instead of 14 or 15 anterodorsal lateral-line scales, and having a broad bright yellow stripe on the side of the body.

Similar looking and closely related is cirrhilabrus rubriventralis, where the paddle like ventral fins and elongated first half of the dorsal fin is noticed.

what's strikes me the most is the extremely beautiful iridescent SILVER tail that this fish harbours. it is to my understanding that not all specimens harbour this silver tail. some are black, while some are only silvery under certain angles. the one i have is silver in all angles and it is a very beautiful metallic silvery blue that captures light very very well. it sparkles.

another interesting trait is the shark like dorsal fin and the paddle like ventral fin. giving this fish a very comical look but yet, extremely beautiful at the same time.

here's some photos of mine. I named him sneaky. The first few days he was exhibiting snaking patterns, not swimming. he's fine now and eats prepared food with gusto. there's a very nice photo of the marine betta next to him. the marine betta is 2 inch + and feeds on frozen mysis.

Cirrhilabrus Naokoae is very rare and almost always makes its way to japan, where people pay much much more for it there.

CF's debut shipment featured 3-4 (if i'm not wrong, 3) of these. they were big around 3 inches. they stopped coming in for many months, and then suddenly, 2 smaller ones 2 inch+ appeared.

this is CF's 3rd shipment of naokos and this time, 7 came. Let's hope these beauties show up more often. It's a shame because they're just as hardy as damsels.

[yikai]

seen here is when the fish expands its fin. the long paddle like fins and the shark like dorsal. very cute.

[zaiqiu]

Nice

Wonder how much???

[yikai]

I'll explain in terms of wrasse currency.

1 rhomboid wrasse = 1 and a half naokoae.

[FuEl]

Funny how Sneaky is not sneaking around the tank floor anymore.

[yikai]

Funny how Sneaky is not sneaking around the tank floor anymore.

he is at home. no more sneaky business.