Pelicier’s Perchlets (Plectranthias pelicieri)
Pelicier’s Perchlets (Plectranthias pelicieri) known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Pelicier’s Anthias, Pelicier Hawk. Mottlet Perchlet or Red Blootched Perchlet are found in the Indian Ocean around the tropical west coast of Africa. Another distinct population exists in Melanesia; a sub region of Oceania, northeast of Australia.
Pelicier’s Perchlets are an uncommon deepwater reef dwelling species typically encountered alone or in pairs close to the substrate along the rocky drop offs, deep reef slopes, caves and large coral structure of their range, in depths from 100 to well over 250 feet.
In the wild, Pelicier’s Anthias behave more like hawkfish than free swimming Anthias. They spend the majority of their time on their specialized pelvic fins propped up on large coarse substrates, rocky ledges, and rubble where they remain completely still for extended periods waiting for tiny passing prey in the water column.
Though frequently observed by divers living in pairs in their rocky territories, capturing them together is extremely difficult.
Pelicier’s Perchlets (Plectranthias pelicieri)
Pelicier’s Perchlets have a brilliant white to silvery white body color overlaid with large, irregularly shaped patches and vertical bands of crimson red to deep orange that give the fish a mosaic or marbled look. Some individuals have yellow to golden accents tipping the dorsal spines and highlighting the face and pelvic fins. The overall effect is a fiery checkerboard pattern.
Plectranthias pelicieri are monomorphi and share the same red, orange, and white checkerboard coloration. Males have slightly longer and more intensely colored dorsal filaments of the first few spines and are generally more dominant and larger than females.
Pelicier’s Perchlets are best housed in a mature deepwater reef or FOWLR aquarium of at least 55 gallon capacity with a coarse coral rubble or sand substrate, plenty of live rock arranged into shady caves, ledges, and wide crevices, and a good amount of swimming space. Once acclimated, they will adopt a dimly lit cave or shady ledge as their permanent home.
Pelicier’s Perchlets are remarkably hardy and adjust incredibly well to aquarium life. They perform excellently in holding systems and adapt quickly to captivity.
Because they are collected from deep waters, they need a lower light aquarium. If placed in a reef setup with intense LED or T5 lighting, acclimate them slowly and provide plenty of shadowed overhangs and caves for them to escape the light. A lighting system that provides a gradual dawn to dusk lighting cycle will greatly benefit this species.
An aquarium chiller is recommended to maintain water temperatures at their recommended range, and a wavemaker is needed to provide the strong, continuous water movement found in their deep water environment.
Heavy filtration, aggressive protein skimming, regular water changes, and media reactors are also required to keep nitrates and phosphates at zero and maintain pristine water conditions.
Pelicier’s Perchlets are completely reef safe with corals, will not harm sessile invertebrates. and are incredibly peaceful toward other fish, but because they are true carnivores with surprisingly large mouths, they will consider small ornamental shrimp potential snacks. Cleaner Shrimp and Fire Shrimp are normally safe.
Plectranthias pelicieri are cryptic, passive, relatively peaceful and won’t actively harass standard community fish.
Keep one Pelicier’s Anthias per tank unless you have a mated pair or a large system with several distinct, separated rock piles. They are highly territorial toward their own kind and other similar-shaped bottom dwellers. In general, their temperament is comparable to basslets or smaller groupers.
Avoid keeping them with very aggressive tankmates that are likely to pick on them.
Plectranthias pelicieri have not been successfully bred in an aquarium environment.
They are broadcast pelagic spawners that release their eggs directly into the open water column where the fertilized eggs drift as plankton with ocean currents.
Pelicier’s Perchlets are strict, demersal carnivores that in their natural deep water environment sit motionless among the rubble and plate corals waiting to snatch up larger pelagic zooplankton, a variety of benthic crustaceans like small crabs, microscopic ornamental shrimp, and other tiny invertebrates crawling on the substrate, and small reef fish.
In an aquarium environment they adapt quickly to high quality meaty frozen foods like vitamin enriched brine shrimp, Myhsis, Calanus, and finely chopped krill, fresh shrimp, or saltwater fish. This species should only be fed once a day or once every other day after properly conditioned. Do not overfeed.
Pelicier’s Perchlets (Plectranthias pelicieri) are a rare, deep water species that are highly seasonable and only occasionally enter the market as single specimens (often only a couple of specimens per month globally).
Because they live at greater depths in the wild, they are infrequently collected and arrive in the aquarium trade in very limited numbers .
Like Sagamai Perchlets (Plectranthias sagamiensis) Pelicier’s Perchlets live in a mesophotic habitat that is below standard recreational diving limits. Specimens that enter the aquarium trade are ocasionally hand collected by specialized deep diving collectors using mixed gas, closed circuit rebreathers.
They can only be acquired from specialized elite builders and boutique online retailers where they are frequently listed as backordered or available by waiting list only. Major tropical fish wholesalers occasionally import them from Melanesia or Japan by custom request if their overseas collectors manage to safely decompress one.
When individual specimens are available, they typically command prices from $3,500 to $5,000 USD depending on size, origin, and quarantine protocols.
If you are a serious tropical fish keeping enthusiast looking to acquire a Pelicier’s Perchlet, your best strategy is to establish contact with a high end, rare fish supplier directly, and get placed on a dedicated deep water specimen notification list.
Pelicier’s Perchlets (Plectranthias pelicieri)
Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons
Aquarium Type: Reef or FOLR
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Semi Aggressive
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 68°F to 74°F, dKH 8 to 11, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.024-1.026
Max size: 3″
Color Form: Orange, Red, White, Yellow
Diet: Carnivore
Compatibility: Reef
Origin: Melanesia, Japan
Family: Serranidae
Lifespan: 4-8 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Expert/Advanced
