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Thalassoma
pavo (Turkish Wrasse, Ornate wrasse) - Linnaeus, 1758
By
George Reclos
Thalassoma pavo (male)
Thalassoma pavo (pair; male at left and female at right)
Thalassoma pavo (female)
Original drawing in "Guid d'identification des
poissons marins Europe et Mediterranee" by Patrick Louisy
Along
with Coris juli (the Rainbow
wrasse) this is the most colorful fish you will normally see in the
Mediterranean and one of the most colorful fishes available to hobbyists.
Individuals of these two species also change sex and color as they mature.
However the difference between those two is that in T.pavo even the female
coloration (shown in the lower photo) is splendid. The fish can tolerate
higher temperatures (even tropical ones) and will reach a size of 28 cm
(maximum for adult males). Collecting it in the wild is very easy although
patience is needed for adult males. All you need is a rather big hand net
(we use one which is 50 cm square) and an open sea urchin. Both T.pavo and
C.julis will enter the net after a while to eat the remainders of the
urchin. This way you will be able to collect some species in 1-2 minutes.
For larger specimens (usually males) you will need to put more than 2-3
urchins in the net and wait till they feel comfortable. Usually, after
seeing the smaller fish eating they will enter the net after 5 minutes..
When we
take its final size into account it is evident that you need a really big
tank (not less than 2 meters long). Will eat frozen shrimps from day one
although commercial dry food will be ignored during the first couple of
weeks. Will rarely bury in the sand during the night – which makes a sand
bed a must. This may be observed by some individuals only – most of them
will not do it (another difference from Coris julis). I recommend at least
5 cm of sand although more is better. Although quite large it may be
harassed by territorial fish of an equal size. Our male T.pavo had a very
nasty “welcome” ceremony by the Salaria pavo which has come to regard the
whole bottom of the tank as its territory. It is worthy to note that
S.pavo didn’t react to the addition of the female T.pavo although it was
about the same time when introduced. Usually there can be only one male
per tank. We have currently collected a colony of 6 fishes (one male and
five females) of various sizes and we expect them to be fully acclimatized
after several months so we will be able to add them to the main marine
tank (which will be probably ready by then). The fishes are divided
between the two tanks (1 male / 2 females in the left tank and 3 females
in the right one). After 3 weeks, most of the females will readily accept
even floating flakes – which the male still ignores. All of them will take
frozen shrimps and mysis shrimp. Their acclimatization is considerably
shortened when kept with already acclimatized fish which seem to show them
the thereabouts of the tank (feeding time, way of feeding etc.).
All photos by George Reclos / MCH - Continued in
next page.
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