Rainbow Basslet (Liopropoma fasciatus)

These fish are delivered directly from the wholesaler in LA to you.  These fish have an arrive alive garuentee.

The Rainbow Basslet has an elongated body and a pointed head. They have a near horizontal profile with large eyes and a slightly upturned and very large mouth with a projecting lower jaw. Their head and belly are red and there are 4 horizontal stripes on their sides: a wide dark brown mid-lateral stripe, straddled by a strong yellow stripe above and a faint yellow stripe below, and a red-brown stripe just below the base of their dorsal fin (pictured above). Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays; their caudal base has a very deep base which is greater than half the depth of the body and their caudal fin is round to slightly concave; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines, their second dorsal fin has 12 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 15 rays. They are covered with small rough scales.

The Rainbow Basslet is found in and around rocky and coral reefs at depths between 23 m (75 feet) and 229 m (750 feet). They reach a maximum of 33 cm (13 inches) in length and 450 grams (1 lb 0 oz) in weight. They are a rare deep water species with very limited information available about their behavioral patters.

The Rainbow Basslet is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being only found in the lower two-thirds of the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the mainland southward to Guatemala.

The Rainbow Basslet is straightforward to identify due to its unique coloration pattern. In body shape it is similar to the Scalyfin Basslet, Liopropoma longilepis, however, the latter lacks the mid-body banding.