Lyretail Anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis

I added six juveniles on June 29th, 2002.

The Lyretail Anthias are my first attempt at an anthias species. These are claimed to be very hardy fish. However in the first week of adding mine I had one MIA and one confirmed death.

The remaining 4 are doing well. Three of the 4 are very aggressive eaters. The last hides in the rocks and is not at all aggressive towards eating. It comes out during feeding but does not actually eat as much as the others.

Lyretail Anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis

I wasn't able to get these fish to eat any off the shelf foods. They would attempt a strike but spit it out. I made a frozen slurry mix out of fresh table shrimp in a food processor, and then mixed in various frozen foods such as different plankton, nori, spirulina flake, vibra-grow, etc... and this mix they all attack with gusto and do not spit it out.

Lyretail Anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis

The lyretail anthias is one of the most wide-ranging members of the subfamily Anthiinae. It ranges from the Red Sea and eastern Africa east to the Fijian Islands, north to Japan and south to New South Wales, Australia.

Lyretail Anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis

It's not clear which of the remaining anthias is the male they all pretty much look a like at this point.

Lyretail Anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis

The anthias are like a dither fish, meaning when they are comfortable being in the open tank water all the other fish know its safe to come out as well.