Marjorie Fairy Wrasse

Marjorie Fairy Wrasse, Cirrhilabrus marjorie, make gorgeous additions to marine tanks.

Male and female Marjories do look alike. They both have stunningly bold red backs and yellow caudal fins. Although, Males have bright yellow tails, whereas the females display gentle hues. A series of narrow blue stripes trail across the males, blueish white bodies. Females display the same pattern but with red stripes on a pink background. The vibrancy of these fish is undeniable.

Marjorie Fairy Wrasse, Cirrhilabrus marjorie, Ecology.

These beautiful fish live around Fiji and Melanesia, in the Pacific Ocean.

The complex habitat help the wrasse avoid predation. Unlike some species, these fish do not bury themselves to sleep or hide. Instead, they have quite a nifty trick. In order to sleep safely, Marjorie Fairy Wrasse find a nook they like. They then cover themselves in a protective mucus coat. Supposedly, this hides their scent from predators. These sticky invisibility cloaks do not degrade your water quality like some coral wax jackets’ might.

In Nature, Marjorie Fairy Wrasse live in groups with one male to a few or more females. Dominant males trigger spawning with their courtship displays. He will dash around, showing off his colours to the harem. These fish are protogynous hermaphrodites. Which means that, when they get old enough, breeding females turn into a male. As a result, all juveniles are immature females.

Wrasse in the Aquarium.

It is important to imitate the natural environment by providing plenty of nooks and crannies for the wrasse to hide in. Hobbyists should invest in a jump guard to prevent any unfortunate mishaps.

Marjorie Fairy Wrasse do best when fed a varied diet. They will accept enriched frozen mysis shrimp and enriched frozen brine shrimp. They will also devour live foods, such as copepods and amphipods, that can be cultivated in attached refugium. Over time they will accept high-quality pellet or flake. We adapt all our wrasse to aquarium life before they leave us. We focus on their health, and most are eating a good quality flake food and/or pellet, such as JBL Maris, before being offered for sale.