Red Coris Wrasse (Coris Gaimard)

Care Level : Moderate

Temperament : Semi-aggressive

Color : Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, White, Yellow

Diet : Carnivore

Reef Compatible : With Caution

Water Conditions : sg 1.020-1.025, 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size : 1' 3"

Origin : Indo-Pacific and Hawaiian Region

Family : Labridae

Minimum Tank Size : 125 gallons

The Red Coris Wrasse (Coris Gaimard), also known as the Clown Wrasse, Red Labrid, or Yellowtail Coris, can be found on almost every reef in the Indo-Pacific and Hawaiian Region, and extends all the way into the Red Sea.

The juvenile and adult appearances vary greatly. As a youth, the body color is orange with white tiger stripes or spots across the back. The stripes and fins are outlined in black. In adulthood, the body takes on a speckled blue coloration, the fins are decorated with yellows, reds, and blues, and the face is orange with green stripes. The male has a light green stripe on the body, just above the anal fin. Adult specimens in the wild can easily grow to a foot, but in an aquarium, they rarely exceed 6-8 inches.

Red Coris Wrasse requires a 125 gallon or larger tank with a sandy bottom 2-4 inches deep to allow the wrasse to burrow comfortably. Red Coris Wrasses are shy saltwater fish, and when they feel nervous, they need somewhere safe and secure to hide. Fish use sand to avoid potential threats and sleep at night. Do not attempt to keep the Red Coris Wrasse on crushed coral or similar substrate as they have a poor survival rate on such substrates.

When very small, Red Coris are safe with almost any fish that will not eat them, but as they grow, they can become destructive. They should not be kept with invertebrates. You need to keep an eye on your crustacean members of the aquarium (they can’t resist an ornamental shrimp or crab), but they’ll leave your SPS and LPS corals alone.

And as they enjoy snapping up bristle worms, they provide a helpful service to the average reef tank. It will occasionally clean the body surface of other fishes, in an attempt to remove parasites and dead tissue. 

The Red Coris are quite easy to breed in captivity. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they start their lives as females but can change sex later on if necessary. 

The Red Coris Wrasse diet should include vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with a high quality marine flake and marine pellet food.

Size: Juvenile Small: 1" to 1-3/4"; Juvenile Medium: 1-3/4" to 2-1/4"; Juvenile Large: 2-1/4" to 3-1/2"; Adult: Small: 1-1/2" to 2-1/2"; Small/Medium: 2-1/2" to 3-1/2"; Medium: 3-1/2" to 4"; Medium/Large: 4" to 5"; Large: 5" to 6"