Bartlett's Anthias

About

Bartlett's anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum) is a small, lively reef fish native to the central and western Pacific, with a natural range spanning Palau, the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and more recently documented from Tonga. In the wild it congregates in large groups with a typical social structure of a few dominant males presiding over several dozen females and juveniles, usually hovering in open water above coral formations. Males display a vivid combination of violet and yellow that makes them easy to distinguish from the more subtly colored females. Like other anthias, this species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning a female can transition to male if the dominant male is removed from the group. In the aquarium, Bartlett's anthias keeps that same social personality. It genuinely seems to do better when kept with others of its own kind rather than alone, and it appreciates rockwork or overhangs where it can duck for cover when it feels unsettled. For an anthias, it is considered one of the more manageable choices, which is good news for hobbyists looking to add some mid-water movement to a reef tank without taking on the feeding demands that come with more delicate members of the genus.