Species Name: Valenciennea puellaris
Size: Up to 5 inches (12 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabit sandy bottom areas on coastal reef slopes and inner reef areas
General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 72 - 79°F (22 - 26°C). Natural diet consists mainly of benthic invertebrate. They are a major sand sifter, picking up large mouthfuls of sand and expelling it through the gill covers, sifting out anything edible. They also take a wide variety of frozen or flake food. Small sinking enriched shrimp meal pellets are an excellent way of keeping them well fed. Some seem to waste away no matter how well fed, which could be a sign of intestinal worms. These fishes are burrow dwellers, and will normally seek protection under low overhanging rocks or actually burrow underneath rock to form a secure home. They should be housed in aquariums with a sandbed of at least two inches in depth and not housed with aggressive fishes such as groupers, dottybacks, triggerfishes or aggressive angelfishes. Usually, they starve to death in closed systems unless there are few competitors for their food supply, or they may simply jump out of the aquarium. Even though they mate for life in the wild, pairs can form in the closed system. Should be maintained in pairs if at all possible.