Pink Basslet

Facts about the Pink Basslet it is named for its light pink body. The Pink Basslet has the species name Pseudanthias hypselosoma. It has also been called the Anthias truncates. The Pink Basslet is a member of the Serranidae family. The Pink Basslet is sometimes called the stocky anthias or pink sea perch. The Pink Basslet is sometimes called the Strawberry Basslet, but that is actually a separate species.

These bright pink fish have a dark red or magenta patch on the gills. The black eyes are encased in purple eye sockets. The Pink Basslets have an orange or gold horizontal stripe from the snout that runs under the eye toward the gills. Some have red splotches on the top fins. There is a vertical orange or gold stripe on the tail fin before it flares out in translucent white. The anal fin also has a gold or rd stripe on its edge.
Male Pink Basslet usually have an orange back, yellow lines and cream underside. Males are brighter than the females as well.

These Pink Basslet fish grow to six to inches long. The largest fish in the group is the male. This Pink Basslet species is hermaphroditic. If the dominant male dies, the largest female in the group regularly turns into a male. Their ideal stocking ratio is three females for every male.
The Pink Basslet live three to five years in the wild. Its dorsal fin has fifteen to seventeen rays. The anal fin has seven soft rays.

These Pink Basslet fish are carnivorous but will eat pellet food and flake foods in a fish tank after they have settled into the tank. Do not try to feed the fish flakes before it is acclimated to the tank.
The Pink Basslet are semi-aggressive to other fish. They will eat ornamental crustaceans. The Pink Basslet will also eat mysis shrimp, frozen carnivore preparations, and vitamin enriched brine shrimp. These fish need to be fed several times a day. Some people attach a refugium with copepods and amphipods to the side of the tank to help feed these fish.
These Pink Basslet fish form small groups. The Pink Basslet will sometimes school with red basslets. In general, do not put them in tanks with other types of basslets. Do not keep these fish with anglers, frogs, eels, groupers, lionfish, triggerfish, sharks, or rays.
These Pink Basslet fish will typically be found in the middle of a fish tank but like a few rocky hiding places.
This fish breed at dusk to avoid predators.

The Pink Basslet is native to the Indo-Pacific. The Pink Basslets are found most often around the Maldives in waters more than ninety feet deep. Those kept in a tank need at least 30 gallons; groups need at least 120 gallons. These fish are tropical and need the water between 72F and 78F. They do best with a water hardness of 8 to 12 dKH.
These fish can share a tank with live corals, invertebrates and live rock or sand. They are reef compatible. The Pink Basslet can be kept in fish only tanks.

This Pink Basslet species was identified by Bleeker in 1878. This Pink Basslet species is not the same one as the brightly colored Strawberry Basslet or magenta dottyback. That fish’s scientific name is Pseudochromis porphyr.