Pseudojuloides kaleidosis a beautiful species that hails from the Indian Ocean, and is seldom collected for the trade but the odd specimens sometimes appears from the Maldives. Like many of its cousins in the pencil wrasse genus (Pseudojuloides), it can be touchy and sensitive at first. With a healthy specimen and a suitable tank though, they make great colorful additions to any reef.
Pseudojuloides kaleidosis colored similarly toP. cerasinus andP. xanthomos,但缺乏独特的黄色stripe seen on the two latter species. Instead, it possesses a beautiful fuschia stripe which runs from the head along its dorsal fin, down to the tail.
It’s a shame that thePseudojuloideswrasses are so underrated in the aquarium trade, withP. severnsiandP. cerasinusbeing the two most likely candidates to appear at a fish store. Very rare specimens that have entered the market before areP. mesostigma,P. xanthomosandP. atavai, but these are usually one off freak imports. We also posted anundescribed speciesthat entered Japan awhile ago, but we have not heard of any new imports of that even.
The reefing scene certainly hasn’t seen all that this genus has to offer, and we hope in time, some of the lesser seen species end up in the trade. These elegant and beautiful species do offer a different dimension to wrasse keeping, and offer a unique alternative to the age old fairy wrasse counterparts. We would like to thankJimmy Mahfor these beautiful pictures of his maleP. kaleidos.
