🐠 Candy Basslet (Liopropoma carmabi)
Orange and Lavender Stripes With Red Accents • A Rare Deep-Water Caribbean Jewel • Reef Safe, Shy and Strikingly Beautiful
 
📋 The Candy Basslet has an elongated body patterned with orange and lavender horizontal stripes accented with fine red lines, a colouration intense enough to set it apart from its close relatives, the Swalesi and Swissguard Basslets.
It comes from the Western Atlantic, from the Bahamas and Florida Keys through the eastern Caribbean to Curaçao and Bonaire, where it lives in caves and rocky recesses at depths of 15 to 75 metres. That deep, reclusive habitat makes it one of the rarer basslets in the trade, and a real prize for a small reef. It has a charming habit too: in secluded spots, pairs court by swimming parallel to each other with their gill covers touching. Every Candy Basslet we ship is feeding well.
It's reef safe, though it may take very small ornamental crustaceans that fit in its mouth. It reaches about 6cm and does best in a smaller reef decorated with plenty of rockwork and caves, under subdued lighting, with calm tankmates.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Orange and Lavender Stripes, Red Accents: A candy-bright, intricate pattern
🌊 A Deep-Water Caribbean Jewel: Found at 15 to 75 metres
💎 A Rarity: One of the scarcer basslets in the trade
🌿 Reef Safe: Only very small crustaceans are at risk
💞 Charming Courtship: Pairs swim parallel with their gill covers touching