Pyjama Wrasse

Pyjama Wrasse

The Pyjama Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia), much better known as the sixline wrasse, is one of the most popular small wrasses in the hobby — a vivid purple body striped with six bright orange lines and finished with a green-spotted tail. Hardy, active and inexpensive, it is reef-safe and a useful hunter of pest invertebrates, making it a staple of community reef aquariums.

It is bold and active for its size, with a feisty streak toward other small wrasses, so its temperament is worth planning around.

Natural Habitat & Origin

Pseudocheilinus hexataenia is found across the Indo-Pacific, where it darts between coral and rock hunting tiny crustaceans and other small invertebrates. It is a busy, secretive fish that stays close to cover.

In the aquarium it wants plenty of live rock with crevices to explore and shelter in, ideally in a mature system with natural microfauna.

Care Requirements

Maintain stable marine conditions: salinity around 1.024–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, and a temperature of about 24–26°C (75–79°F). Reaching only about 8 cm (3 inches), it suits a tank of around 75 litres (20 US gallons) or more with abundant rockwork. A secure, gap-free lid is essential — like most wrasses, it is a jumper. It is hardy and adaptable, an excellent beginner wrasse.

Diet & Feeding

The Pyjama Wrasse is a carnivore, feeding on small crustaceans and invertebrates in the wild — including pest species such as small bristleworms and pyramidellid snails, which makes it useful in a reef. Offer a varied diet of frozen mysis and enriched brine shrimp, finely chopped seafood and quality marine pellets, fed once or twice a day.

Behavior & Temperament

This is a semi-aggressive fish, generally peaceful toward unrelated species but assertive toward other small wrasses and similar fish that compete for its niche. It is best kept as the only small wrasse in most tanks, and added later in a stocking plan. It spends its day busily working the rockwork.

Tank Mates

Good companions are a wide range of peaceful to semi-aggressive reef fish — tangs, clownfish, gobies, larger wrasses and similar. Avoid keeping it with other Pseudocheilinus or similar small wrasses in a small system. It is reef-safe with corals and ornamental invertebrates, though as a small predator it may eat tiny shrimp along with the pests it controls.

Breeding

Pseudocheilinus hexataenia is a pelagic spawner and is not bred in the home aquarium, so trade specimens are wild-collected.

Common Health Issues

The Pyjama Wrasse is hardy but, like all marine fish, can be affected by marine ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) and marine velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum), particularly when stressed. Quarantine new arrivals, keep water quality stable, and secure the lid against jumping. Given a tank with plenty of rockwork and a varied diet, it is a hardy, colourful and genuinely useful wrasse — and one of the best beginner choices for a reef.