🐠 Square Spot Anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia)
Marine Reef-Safe Shoaling Fish • Pink-Orange Body With Signature Square Patch • Genuinely One of the Largest Anthias • Intermediate Marine Fish
 
📋 The Square Spot Anthias , also known as the Squareback or Pink Square Anthias, displays genuine striking sexual dimorphism — males show a deep pink-to-orange body marked with a bold, genuinely square-shaped purple patch on the flank, elongated fins, and a lavender belly, while females are a plainer solid yellow-to-orange with a faint blue line from nose to pectoral fin. A genuinely fascinating optical detail: the male's signature purple square patch actually appears bright blue under natural daylight, functioning almost like a little mirror.
Native to a genuinely wide range across the Pacific, from Indonesia to Samoa, the Ryukyu Islands, New Caledonia, and Christmas Island, this species is genuinely one of the larger anthias, reaching up to 20cm, and is collected from meaningfully deep, current-swept outer reef slopes and drop-offs.
Given its genuine deep-water origin, this species does best under low, indirect lighting — bright illumination can genuinely cause its colours to fade over time. It's fully reef safe and does best kept as a harem of one male with several females, or singly — but we want to be honest that two males housed together can lead to genuinely serious aggression, so only ever keep one male per tank.
 
💗🟣 Highlights
🎨 Signature Square Patch: A genuinely distinctive marking that looks blue in natural light
📏 Genuinely One of the Larger Anthias: Reaching up to 20cm
🌗 Prefers Subdued Lighting: Bright light can genuinely cause colour fading
🌿 Genuinely Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates
⚠️ One Male Per Tank Only: Two males together can lead to genuinely serious aggression