Seriously Steenei

There is a group of fish that aquarium geeks like us have a complicated relationship with; they go by a few different names, Pseudochromis, Dottyback, and even sometimes... Basslet. We love them all for their incredible durability, ease of care, brilliant colors and extraordinary activity. In the other column, they have a reputation for aggressiveness. Some of the Dottybacks don't really deserve this label, but others do, and when it comes to Steene's Dottyback, they are lifetime achievement award winners on the naughty list. There's a lot of good here though, so let's come back to that.

Steene's Dottyback is a gorgeous fish, with a bright orange head, a blue neon fringe to their dorsal fin, and a blue-black tail, and both males and females will get this coloration at adulthood. Males will also get a white bar behind their eyes and the long flowing tails that give them one of their common names: Lyretail. Regardless of if you call them “Lyretail” or “Steene's”, both these names are sometimes followed by “Pseudochromis” instead of “Dottyback”; this is perhaps more accurate, and a nod to their scientific name: Pseudochromis steenei. They are found in the tropical western Pacific Ocean, throughout Indonesia and Northern Australia. There they are usually found in areas where there is a soft bottom near lots of cover like coral and rubble reefs. Steene's are collected at a wide range of depths being found from just a few feet deep to over 300 feet down!

When planning a display for Steene's Dottybacks, you should go big. Even though these fish can get four inches long, a single adult would make a great looking display all by itself and tankmates should be larger. They'll need a lot of rocks, and the more swim-throughs and caves you give them, the time these fish will spend in the open. They are fine with corals of all kinds, but if you want to go this route, you should probably opt for the bare bottom tank as Steene's will do quite a bit of remodeling and they can drop sand and small rocks on corals, irritating and sometimes burying them. These fish prefer sandy habitats in the wild, but do not need them in the home aquarium. All the rocks should be solidly on the bottom of the tank to prevent collapses when sand gets dug out from under them. Lastly on displays, any aquarium with a Dottyback in it should be covered. They are notorious jumpers.

Pseudochromis all have interesting swimming styles, and interesting behaviors, often times resting “upside down” under rock overhangs. Add this intriguing activity to this their incredible color, and they make a perfect fish to keep on their own, especially in smaller displays. That being said, some people are going to want other fish with their Steene's, and this should be done with caution. While these fish are found in close proximity to each other in the wild, they shouldn't be kept as pairs in the home aquarium. They don't maintain pairs in the wild outside of breeding and will be very (murderously) territorial with other Dottybacks. If you choose to keep them with other fish, avoid smaller fish, and shy fish, as they might be bullied mercilessly. Damsels, Triggers, Surgeonfish, Eels, Groupers, Snappers, Soldiers, even some large Wrasses would all be good choices for tankmates.

In the wild, these fish mostly eat small invertebrates and other small meaty morsels. They are very easy to feed in the home aquarium and will take all sorts of appropriately sized thawed food without fuss. Here we feed them a mix of foods from Gamma that we change up, it usually includes mysis, a variety of brine, chopped mussel and chopped prawn. We also feed them the Nutramar Complete sinking pellets and they learn to take these very quickly. Steene's Dottybacks don't need to be fed more than once a day, but here we feed them twice a day and they perform really well in house.

Speaking of in-house performance, this is one of the most durable fish that you can find in a home marine aquarium. Even when we (rarely) get specimens that have taken fin or scale damage, it always grows back quickly. Pseudochromis Steenei are not susceptible to all of the most common aquarium ailments and are easily treated if they do manage to come down with something. In the world of aquarium fish, Steene's Dottybacks have few peers when it comes to durability, save maybe damselfish!

So yeah, this fish is aggressive, but we say, “so what?” Everything you put in an aquarium has some considerations to keep in mind when planning the display. You don't want to mix the Steene's Dottyback with something like Pajama Cardinals, but there's other fish in the sea! These are beautiful enough to anchor a display of other fish that share the similar pugnacious attitude! They are super hardy, basically feed themselves, are interesting to watch, and gorgeous to boot! If you were looking for a solo fish for your office desktop tank or have been developing a list of fish that have some attitude, the Steene's Dottyback should be on your list. Ask your LFS about getting you one from Quality Marine today!