help please missing fish....

could someone please identify the fish with orange and yellow tail....i bought it a long time ago and it always seems to nose dive into the sand and i never see it for more than a couple hours a day.....then all of a sudden i havent seen it for 5 days now.....ive dug around in the sand and cant find him anywhere.....if anyone knows anything about this please reply thank you

Steve

 

Well, I know that it's a wrasse of some sorts but that's the closest I can come to a positive i.d. Most wrasses bury themselves in the sand when hiding or sleeping so that's not abnormal behavior. However, if you haven't seen it in 5 days, it might be a goner. Have you checked around the tank to see if maybe it has jumped out?

 

That my friend is The Red Coris, also known as the Clown Wrasse, Red Labrid, or Yellowtail Coris. Juvenile look much different which indicates that you have an adult wrasse. How old was your fish? Could have been his time.

Red Coris (Coris gaimard)

 

ive had him for around 4 months.....the tank size is 120 g......he never jumped out i know that....i know that he likes to stay in the sand but maybe you are right it was his time.....because he spends literally 20 hours in the sand every day since the day i bought him.....

 

He could still be in there, keep looking.

 

wrasses are a secretive species...don't give up on him just yet. on the other hand, if for some reason you find all of your clean up crew in one section of your tank, well...my condolences.

 

i dunno i just removed all the LR and dug the whole 5' by 20" with my fingers and i cant find him anywhere.....found a couple hard spots in the sand so i broke it up a bit....putting the LR back in i dunno i guess i will post if he comes back.....

 

well today the mysterious wrasse decides to make an appearance.....still puzzled as to how he could stay so well hiden.....but thanks guys anyways....

Steve

 

Those are beautiful fish. They get fairly large, about 13". Does it harass your cleaner shrimp?

 

congrats...it's a beautiful fish. now you'll just have to keep your eye
on him to figure out where lies his "secret lair".....