Squarespot Anthias (female)

Pseudanthias pleurotaenia is a Pseudanthias reef dwelling fish of the Pacific Ocean. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade and grows to a size of 20 cm in length. Males have bold coloration, with a pink squared spot on their side, while females are completely orange in color.

Description

The males are deep pink and orange in colour with a large quadrilateral purplish blotch on the flank, a red tip on the posterior margin of the dorsal fin, the caudal fin lobes have mauve tips and there is a reddish stripe which runs from the snout through the eye and through the base of the pectoral fin to the base of the tail. Females and juveniles are yellowish orange in colour with orange edges to their scales and they have two purple stripes which run from the eye along the lower flanks to the base of the tail.

Distribution

Its range extends from Indonesia in the east, Samoa in the west, north to the Ryukyu Islands, and south to Rowley Shoals and New Caledonia, as well as throughout Micronesia.

Habitat

It is found around reefs at depths of 10 to 180 metres (33 to 591 ft). As with many reef fish, it is a sequential hermaphrodite, beginning life as a female, and transitioning to male in response to environmental and social factors.