Strawberry Basslet

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Strawberry Basslet

Scientific Name: Pictichromis porphyrea

Also Known As: Strawberry Dottyback / Magenta Dottyback

Origin: Western Pacific

Maximum Size: Around 6 cm

Temperament: Semi-aggressive / Territorial

Reef Safe: Yes

Care Level: Easy

Description

The Strawberry Basslet is a small but incredibly vivid reef fish, with an almost completely magenta to purple body that can appear even brighter under strong reef lighting.

Despite the common name, this is actually a dottyback rather than a true basslet. It naturally lives around coral rubble, steep reef slopes and channel walls, usually staying close to caves and crevices where it can quickly retreat.

They stay very small but have a surprisingly bold personality and can become extremely confident once established.

Feeding

Strawberry Basslets are carnivorous and readily adapt to aquarium foods.

Offer a varied diet including frozen mysis, enriched brine shrimp, finely chopped seafood and good-quality marine pellets. Once settled they are normally enthusiastic feeders and will quickly emerge from the rockwork at feeding time.

Compatibility

Strawberry Basslets are completely safe with corals, making them suitable for reef aquariums.

The main consideration is their territorial nature. Despite reaching only around 6 cm, they can be surprisingly assertive towards peaceful fish that occupy similar caves or areas of rockwork, particularly gobies, dartfish and other dottybacks.

Providing plenty of caves, crevices and broken lines of sight helps reduce territorial disputes. They are generally best kept as the only dottyback in smaller aquariums.

Very small ornamental shrimp may potentially be viewed as prey, although established larger shrimp are considerably less vulnerable.

Why We Like It

There aren't many fish that give you this much colour in such a small package. The Strawberry Basslet is intensely pink-purple from nose to tail and really stands out against rockwork and coral.

They also have far more personality than their size suggests. Once settled, they're bold, inquisitive and usually very visible – just don't mistake small for timid.

Care Notes

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