🐠 Chalk Bass (Serranus tortugarum)
A Soft Blue-Lavender Body With Vivid Orange Bars • A Social, Reef-Safe Shoaler • A Great Beginner Marine Fish
 
📋 The Chalk Bass, also known as the Chalk Basslet, has a slender body in soft blue-to-lavender tones, accented with orange-to-reddish vertical bars that grow more vivid under good lighting.
It comes from the Western Atlantic, from Florida's east coast through the Bahamas and Virgin Islands to Honduras, with its largest numbers across Caribbean reefs, where it naturally forms loose groups over rubble, sand flats, and seagrass beds. It does best in a small group introduced together, and every Chalk Bass we ship is feeding well, settling in best with subdued lighting and live foods at first.
It's fully reef safe and won't harm corals or sessile invertebrates, though larger, mature fish may occasionally take very small ornamental shrimp. It's a capable jumper, so use a secure lid, especially while it settles in. It reaches about 8cm, so plan on at least 115L for a group.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Blue-Lavender With Orange Bars: An understated, attractive basslet
👥 Naturally Social: Does best in a small group
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or sessile invertebrates
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: Settles in quickly with subdued lighting
🔒 Secure Lid: A capable jumper, especially early on