Christmas Wrasse

The Christmas Wrasse is a stunningly colorful Pacific wrasse that lives up to its festive name with a vibrant display of red and green. Males feature a deep crimson-red body adorned with bright green vertical bars and markings, with additional blue and green accents on the head and fins. Females are somewhat less vivid but still attractive, displaying a reddish-brown body with more subdued green markings. The combination of red and green hues gives this species a uniquely festive appearance that is unlike any other wrasse commonly seen in the aquarium trade.

Halichoeres claudia is found across the central and western Pacific, with particularly healthy populations around Hawaii, Christmas Island, and the Marshall Islands. In the wild, it inhabits shallow reef flats, lagoons, and rubble zones at depths of 1 to 30 meters, where it actively forages among rocks and coral rubble for small invertebrates, crustaceans, and worms. Like many Halichoeres wrasses, the Christmas Wrasse is an energetic and tireless forager that covers a large territory throughout the day.

In the aquarium, the Christmas Wrasse is an intermediate-level species that adapts well to captivity when provided with the right conditions. It is an active swimmer that requires a tank of at least 75 gallons with a deep sand bed, as it buries itself in the sand to sleep at night and when frightened. A tight-fitting lid is essential, as this species is a known jumper. The Christmas Wrasse is completely reef-safe and provides excellent pest control by consuming flatworms, pyramidellid snails, and small bristleworms. Its brilliant coloration and active foraging behavior make it a highly entertaining addition to any reef aquarium.