The world's fairy wrasses of the genus Cirrhilabrus

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Cirrhilabrus lubbocki

Lubbock's fairy wrasse.

Philippines to Flores seas. Coastal and inner reefs with low, rich coral and algae coverage. Very variable in colour from pinkish to bright red or purple and dorsal fin bright yellow in adults. Females are virtually identical and indistinguishable from other females of other species.

A different variant of the Lubbock's fairy wrasse exist in which it is mostly white with 2 black horizontal stripes.

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Cirrhilabrus adornatus

Debelius fairy wrasse.

Known only from the islands off the west coast of Sumatra. It appears to be closely related to Cirrhilabrus flavidorsalis and females look identical. Some males have an almost all white body, with red heads.

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Cirrhilabrus rhomboidalis

Rhomboid fairy wrasse, Diamond tail fairy wrasse.

Known only from Marshall Islands and Palau. Males are gold and purple with long diamond shaped tail. When displaying, the fish turns entirely golden with a purple saddle on the mid portion of the body.

first pic of a male, 2nd pic of a group of females in the wild, and the 3rd pic, a flashing male.

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Cirrhilabrus sanguineus

Blood-stained fairy wrasse.

Mauritian endemic. Deep water species found on rubble slopes at 40-60m Males identified by the striking red bar. When displaying, ventral fins turn bright yellow.

An interesting story behind the discovery of this species.

"C. sanguineus was named by Cornic in 1987 in his small book, not a paper, and he did not examine any ! Jack Randall was very angry because Cornic borrowed Jack's photos before he started to write a book. Then he named only with several sentences in the book.

A new fish was once named it cannot be changed !"

Dr. Hiroyuki Tanaka

First pic of an unexcited male, 2nd pic of a male displaying nuptial colouration.

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Cirrhilabrus blatteus

Red-sea fairy wrasse.

Endemic to only the Red Sea. Identified by the long tail with yellow. Body has purple lines.

Extremely rare and never caught for the aquarium trade before.

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Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus

Red margin fairy wrasse, Pink margin fairy wrasse.

West Pacific from southern Japan to Indonesia and PNG. Large males have red margins on dorsal and tail fins. Pacific variation i.e Fijian specimens differ from the duller Indonesian specimens.

Fijian specimens have long black ventral fins and a dark chest with numerous yellow spots. A bright pink saddle is also present on the Fijian variants.

1st pic of a female, 2nd pic of an Indonesian specimen, 3rd pic of a Fijian specimen and the last pic, a displaying male.

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Cirrhilabrus pylei

Pyle's fairy wrasse.

Western Pacific, Bali, PNG and Philippines. Very long ventral fins and males from the Western pacific have a blue margin on the tail. Specimens from Philippines have black tail margins and a large black spot on the 2/3 length of the dorsal fin.

A very aggressive species.

first pic of a female, 2nd pic of a Vanuatuan Pyle's fairy wrasse, 3rd pic of a Vanuatuan Pyle's fairy wrasse in nuptial colouration and the last pic, of a Cebuan Pyle's fairy wrasse (Cebu Variant).

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Cirrhilabrus lineatus

Lavender fairy wrasse, Lineatus fairy wrasse.

Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Males are easily identified by their colouration. When displaying, the tail turns bright red and pectoral fins turn orange. Dorsal and anal fins turn white. Females are pink with blue spots and lines on the body. Juveniles are pink with yellow eyes.

A highly sought after species.

First pic of a terminal male specimen, 2nd pic of a terminal male displaying and 3rd pic shows ayoung male.

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Cirrhilabrus earlei

Earl's fairy wrasse.

Known only form Palau. A deepwater species. It has distinctive striped patterns and adults usually have a pointed caudal fin. Males have blue cheeks when flashing.

A gorgeous but extremely expensive species.

1st and 2nd pic shows terminal male phased specimens, 3rd pic shows a female and last pic shows a flashing male.

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Cirrhilabrus claire

Claire's fairy wrasse

Known only from the Cook islands. Information N/A.

The only photo available is of a holotype. Gender of holotype uncertain.

Rarest fairy wrasse in the world with no proper information and proper pictures of it yet.

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Cirrhilabrus cf lanceolatus

Pintail fairy wrasse.

Izu region to the Ryuku Islands, and Cebu Philippines. Males are beautifully and exquisitely coloured with a long lanceolate tail which resembles Cirrhilabrus lanceolatus. Undescribed species but will be described soon by Dr. Senou.

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Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus

Hooded fairy wrasse, Deep-water fairy wrasse, Rosy-fin fairy wrasse.

Three variants of this species occur. Coral Sea and Australian variants are red throughout with rosy-pink fins. Variants from Souther Vanuatu (Tanna Island) have a distinct red head with orange-yellow body. A red streak continues from the head to the caudal penducle.

Northern Vanuatu variants (Efate Island) have a distinct red head and a yellow-orange body. The two colours are separated and distinct.

All variants have rosy pink fins that are very beautiful. Shape of dorsal fin is very unique, with the front part being very square and higher than the back portion. Dorsal fin starts futhur down the head.

First pic of an Australian male, 2nd pic of a southern Vanuatuan male, and the last pic of a northern Vanuatuan male.

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Cirrhilabrus sp. 1

Nachkyi fairy wrasse.

Known from Tonga. Very similar to Cirrhilabrus bathyphilus, but have an elongated first dorsal spine with differently coloured and shaped dorsal fin.

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Cirrhilabrus walshi

Walsh's fairy wrasse.

Known only from the Coral Sea to American Samoa, from a few specimens collected in 37-46m. Very similar to C. condei but with yellow dorsal fin and a more slender shape.

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Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis

Social fairy wrasse.

Red Sea and western Indian Ocean. Part of the "rubriventralis-complex". Similar to Cirrhilabrus joanallenae in the eastern Indian Ocean. Males have long dorsal fin rays and long ventral fins which are red. Females are orange with blue stripes and look very similar to other species in this complex.

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Cirrhilabrus sp 2.

KwaZulu fairy wrasse.

Known only from South Africa, and shows some similarity to Cirrhilabrus morrisoni.

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Cirrhilabrus morrisoni

Morrison's fairy wrasse.

Known from Hibernia Reef in the western Timor Sea, off the Australian coast. Males are distinctive with their black fins.

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Cirrhilabrus cf morrisoni

Known only from Bali and southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Looks very similar and seems to be most closely related to C. morrisoni, but has red ventral fins instead.

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Cirrhilabrus naokoae

Naoko's fairy wrasse.

Geographical range uncertain. Was shipped from Indonesia and thought to have originated from northwest Sumatra. Females are very very rare in the trade and are orange with two well defined lines.

The dorsal fin of the Naoko's fairy wrasse is very unique in the "rubriventralis-complex". It has a pointed dorsal fin much like a shark. The body is red with a white belly and a yellow streak separating the two. The red colouration tends to fade to black in the aquarium.

Unlike most other fishes, this was described not from the wild, but from the aquarium trade. It was described by Hiroyuki Tanaka and Jack Randall, and was named after Hiroyuki's wife, Naoko.

2nd last photo shows a female. Last photo of a displaying male. Tail turns bright blue.

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Cirrhilabrus sp 3.

Kenya fairy wrasse.

Known only from Kenya. Very similar to C. rubriventralis but obviously different at the same time. Belongs to the "rubriventralis-complex". Undetermined species.

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Cirrhilabrus joanallenae

Pennent fairy wrasse.

Sumatra, Java and Andaman Sea. Males look almost identical to C. rubriventralis, but have black ventral fins instead of red.

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Cirrhilabrus lanceolatus

Lanceolate fairy wrasse, Long-tail fairy wrasse.

Izu region, Okinawa, Japan. Deep-water species, resembles Cirrhilabrus roseafascia. Adults have a very long lanceolate tail and gorgeous emerald green fins.

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Cirrhilabrus roseafascia

Rose-banded fairy wrasse.

Known from New Caledonia, Fiji, Coral Sea, Samoa, Philippines and Palau. Wide ranging but never common and rarely seen in it's own range. Deep water species, grows to 9 inches. A very beautiful but extremely aggressive fairy wrasse.

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Cirrhilabrus katoi

Kato's fairy wrasse.

Known only from islands off the Izu peninsula and south to Kashiwajima. Occurs in lose groups and usually comprise of females with one or two males. Males are gorgeously decorated with colouful dots.

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Cirrhilabrus melanomarginatus

Black-margin fairy wrasse.

South China Sea, Philippines to southern Japan. Adults identified by black margin on dorsal fin and large size. Max size of around 15cm, adults sport a stout triangular tail with a pointed filament. Resembles Cirrhilabrus scottorum.

first pic of female, rest are males.