🐠 Orangetail Dottyback (Pseudochromis coccinicauda)
An Elegant Yellow-White Body With a Vivid Orange-Red Tail • An Uncommon Western Indian Ocean Find • Best With Calm, Peaceful Company
 
📋 The Orangetail Dottyback has an elegant pale yellow-to-white body that transitions into a vivid orange-red tail, giving the species its common name. A note on naming: the common name "Orangetail Dottyback" is also used for a different species, Pseudochromis flammicauda (sold by us as the Firetail Dottyback); this listing is Pseudochromis coccinicauda, also known as the Yellow-Breasted Dottyback, so ask our team if you'd like us to confirm identification.
It comes from the Western Indian Ocean, including the Maldives, the Andaman Islands, and Indonesia, and it's an occasional find in the aquarium trade. Every Orangetail Dottyback we ship is feeding well.
It's an extremely shy and secretive species that spends much of the day in hiding, emerging briefly to feed, so calm, peaceful tankmates and a careful stocking order help it thrive. It's reef safe with caution: it won't harm coral tissue, but it isn't safe with small ornamental crustaceans. It's also extremely fast-moving, which makes it a lively addition to watch, and it's best added as the last fish to a stocked aquarium. It reaches up to 8cm, so plan on at least 115L.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Yellow-White Body, Orange-Red Tail: An elegant, distinctive dottyback
💎 An Uncommon Find: Only occasional in the trade
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: Calm tankmates help it settle in
🌿 Reef Safe With Caution: Not safe with small ornamental crustaceans
⚡ Fast and Lively: A quick, agile swimmer once it ventures out