A Splendid Candy Pencil
Once thought to be a very widespread fish, Pseudojuloides cerasinus (the true Candy Pencil Wrasse) has a range limited to the Hawaiian Islands (the term for this is “endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.”) Genetic analysis has shown that its cousin, Pseudojuloides splendens is actually the widespread one. The visual differences between the two species are extraordinarily insignificant and nearly every single “Candy Pencil Wrasse” you will see in your LFS is actually P. splendens, and so this fish will be the focus for the rest of the article.
Often also called Splendid Wrasses (and less frequently “Small Tail Wrasse”), P. splendens ranges from Japan to Australia and all over the tropical and subtropical south Pacific. They can be found off reef edges at depths from nearly at the surface to below 300 feet, though a more common range is between 75 and 150 feet deep. In the wild they form breeding pairs seasonally, other than this they are generally found singly. Females can be anywhere from neon pink to a light orange color.
Pseudojuloides as a genus gets a bad rap as a grouping of “hard to keep” fish, and this is undeserved. A large portion of the reasoning behind their finicky reputation is that they do not ship well. Primarily, this fish comes from a very oxygenated reef environment, and thus warm shipping conditions (which exhaust dissolved oxygen) are particularly challenging. Another problem is that this fish requires a sandbed to hide in when stressed, and sandbeds are hard to ship. Quality Marine primarily sources the Splendid / Pencil Wrasse from our Exclusive SSC (Short Supply Chain) in Fiji. As a result of these stunningly short transport times, our wrasses arrive in robust condition and have a long track record of doing very well for us here.
Once acclimated, Candy Wrasses are very straightforward to keep. They thrive in standard reef tank conditions, are very peaceful and quite hardy. They generally segue onto prepared foods quickly; we suggest a mix of thawed marine meaty foods and a high quality pellet, they do very well on this combination for us here. If you look up “Reef Safe” in the dictionary, there is a picture of this fish. (Ok, that is not actually true, but it might as well be). They don't seem much interested in inverts of any kind, making them excellent additions to reef style displays. As previously noted, they do require a fine grained sandbed deep enough to bury themselves in. Overly boisterous tankmates can keep these fish nervous enough to hide for excessive periods, so choose them peaceful friends for them to live with.
This is a brilliant and uniquely colored fish with interesting behavior and deserves a spot in your peaceful fish / reef display. Give your LFS a call and ask them about SSC Candy Pencil Wrasses from Quality Marine!