The Yellowchest Twist Wrasse is a moderately-sized wrasse with a sleek, elongated body with dorsal and anal fins that extend almost the entire length of the fish. Towards the rear of these fins are a pair of large, deep-blue eyespots that help protect the fish by disorienting or confusing potential predators. The beautifully colored Yellowchest Twist Wrasse is primarily dark blue to purple in coloration with many vibrant bright blue dots. The bottom front half of the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse is bright yellow or gold in coloration which lends to its common name. In the wild, the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse is a reef associated species found throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean with populations also found in the Red Sea to the Tuamoto Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to Rapa.
For best care, the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse should be housed in an established, well-filtered aquarium of at least 120 gallons in size or larger. A layer of fine sandy substrate 2-3 inches in depth is essential for the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse as it will burrow into the sand to sleep or to seek shelter when it feels threatened. Do not use crushed coral or other coarse substrate as the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse has a poor survival rate in systems with such coarse substrates. The ideal aquarium setup will also have plenty of live rock. Be sure to arrange your aquarium landscape so there are ample nooks and crannies for your Yellowchest Twist Wrasse to explore, seek refuge, or forage for food. As juveniles, the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse may be kept in numbers but keep in mind that they may demonstrate aggression towards each other when fully grown.
The natural diet of the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse consists of benthic invertebrates and as such, large hungry Yellowchest Twist Wrasse may pick at desirable ornamental invertebrates including fan worms, shrimp, and other crustaceans in the home aquarium. However, the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse typically will not harm sessile invertebrates including soft or stony corals. In the home aquarium, the diet of the Yellowchest Twist Wrasse should consist of a diverse variety of food items including vitamin-enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin-enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with high-quality marine flakes and marine pellet foods.