Pseudanthias flavoguttatus

(Katayama & Masuda, 1980)

Red Saddled Anthias, Yellow-spotted Anthias

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Christmas Island, Indonesia, Palau and Marshall Islands, and north to Southern Japan.

Size: 4 inches (10 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits rocky reefs where they form large groups and are usually found at depths between 85 to about 200 feet (25 – 60 m) where it feeds on zooplankton.

General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade, yet quite attractive having pale pinkish body with the back area whitish and having five or six bright red, across the back patches.

Best maintained in dimly lit aquariums as this is usually a deep-water collected species, along with some rocky caves and strong water movement that has a large unencumbered area for schooling in small groups. Tankmates should be peaceful species and those that perfer low light aquariums, and all tankmates should be the last to enter the aquarium.

If maintained in brightly lit reef aquariums, will be extremely shy, difficult to feed, with the acclimation timeframe lengthy, maybe not achievable.

As to diet, will eat most regular aquarium foods, e.g., finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc., and should be offered at least twice daily and dispensed upstream so water currents carry food to their location.

Sometimes difficult to get feeding, and if so, fortified live adult brine shrimp may be necessary until they accept other types of aquarium foods, e.g., frozen foods and fresh marine fish and invertebrate flesh.

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Percoidei

Family: Serranidae

Subfamily: Anthiinae

Genus: Pseudanthias

FYI: Best maintained with only one male and several females.

Can jump out of the aquarium, therefore some sort of cover may be necessary.

Experience Level: Intermediate/Professional

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: Yes

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful

Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 78°F (22 – 26°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5