Anisotremus virginicus

Anisotremus virginicus, commonly known as the porkfish, is a medium-large colorful grunt. As juveniles these fish are mostly silver-grey with a little blue hue. Their fins are mostly yellow and they posess two horizontal black stripes on their side and a black spot just in front of the caudal fin. When growing older, their fins remain yellow, but the black markings disappear. They develop a number of thick bright yellow horizontal stripes on their flank and two vertical stripes black stripes on their face.

In nature these fish like to hover above the reef in groups. In an aquarium they need plenty of swimming space and if the tank is large enough a group would really make up for a nice display. Do keep in mind their maximum size though. As juveniles these fish are known to occasionally pick parasites of larger fish, something that can be observed in the aquarium as well if larger fish are present. These fish are no picky eaters, just make sure they get a balanced diet with algae as well as meaty foods like shrimps and mussel. Do keep in mind that they will eat snails, shrimp and even crabs and starfish if they fit their mouth.