At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Slender fairy wrasse; males larger and more colourful than females
Males are strikingly colourful, with a yellow-green snout and crown, a blue gill cover, a purple patch behind the head, a yellow-orange back and a blue belly. Females are much plainer, which makes them hard to tell apart from related fairy wrasses.23
Personality what they are like
A calm reef wrasse that lives in small social groups. Unusually for its genus, it slips into the coral when disturbed.12
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Swims in the water above coral and rubble, retreating into the reef framework for cover.1
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Provide plenty of coral or rockwork to retreat into and keep stable reef water.1
Home where they are happiest
No detailed aquarium care sheet was found. In the wild it lives in coastal to outer reef lagoons over rubble and coral, including shallow patch reefs with good hard coral cover, at about 5 to 35 m in tropical water.12
Company who they like around
Lives in small harems of one male with several females and juveniles.2
The story where it all began
Pieter Bleeker described the species in 1853, naming it after Solor Island in Indonesia, its type locality. For many years it was confused with Cirrhilabrus aquamarinus and C. chaliasi, until Tea, Allen and Dailami redescribed it in 2021.12
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
Its scientific name refers to Solor Island in Indonesia, where the first specimen came from.1
- 2
Until a 2021 redescription it was often mixed up with two very similar fairy wrasses.2
- 3
Unlike most fairy wrasses, it hides inside the coral when disturbed instead of swimming away.1
- 4
Fairy wrasses as a group stay small, under about 16 cm, with the males bigger and brighter than the females.3
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Data Deficient (assessed 2009)1
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Solar Fairy Wrasse. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- FeedingSmall amounts once or twice a dayevery day
- Temperature checkevery day
- Salinity checkevery week
- Top-upTop up evaporation with fresh RO water, not salt waterevery day
- Water testevery week
- Water changeAbout 10 to 20% of the waterevery 2 weeks
- Glass cleanevery week
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at support@furrydiary.app and we will fix it.
- FishBase: Cirrhilabrus solorensis, Red-eye wrasse fishbase.seused for distribution, size, depth, habitat, behaviour, IUCN status, describer, etymology
- Wikipedia: Cirrhilabrus solorensis en.wikipedia.orgused for colour description, harem structure, 2021 redescription, aquarium trade
- Wikipedia: Cirrhilabrus en.wikipedia.orgused for general fairy wrasse traits
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.