🐠 Cuban Hogfish (Bodianus pulchellus)
A Pinkish-Red Body With a Bright Yellow Tail • A Western Atlantic Species, a Geographic Outlier From Our Indo-Pacific Stock • Becomes Interactive and Personable With Its Keeper
 
📋 The Cuban Hogfish, also known as the Spotfin Hogfish, has an attractive pinkish-red body, with part of the tail often showing bright yellow. Juveniles look quite different, appearing bright yellow with a distinctive black blotch on the front of the dorsal fin.
It comes from the Western Atlantic, from South Carolina and Bermuda south through the Caribbean to Brazil, inhabiting coral and rocky reefs, a real geographic outlier compared to most of our Indo-Pacific stock. Every Cuban Hogfish we ship is feeding well.
A fun natural behaviour: this species is often seen blowing jets of water into the sand to uncover worms, snails, and small crustaceans hidden beneath. Juveniles are documented picking parasites off other fish in the wild, though this cleaning behaviour is rarely observed once in captivity. This is a hardy, active, and curious species that typically becomes interactive with its keeper over time. It's reef safe with caution; it will ignore corals entirely, but poses a real risk to ornamental shrimp, snails, and other small invertebrates, and mature specimens may bully more timid tankmates. It's also a jumper, so a tight-fitting lid matters, and only one specimen should be kept per tank. It reaches up to 28cm, so a 280L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Pinkish-Red Body With Yellow Tail: A striking, popular hogfish
🌍 A Western Atlantic Species: A real geographic outlier from our typical Indo-Pacific stock
🌊 Sand-Blowing Foraging: Blows water into substrate to unearth hidden prey
⚠️ Reef Safe With Caution: Poses a real risk to ornamental shrimp and small invertebrates
😊 Interactive: Often becomes engaging and personable with its keeper