Another Mystery Fish

[Devilish Angelfish]

Saw this at the LFS today and fell in instant and rapturous love (as you do before you get to know the person...er...fish). Stopped self from buying it instantly because I didnt know what it was (and I can recognise most fish and even if I dont know the name, I can usually tell the genus or family). This one has me stumped. Where is it from? What water paras does it like/need? What does it eat? It was priced at $40 which suggests to me its unusual or hard to get. It was the only one in the shop.The LFS guy (who frequently mis-identifies his marine stuff anyway) had no idea. It was in a tank with some corals and the only name on the tank given for it was "Excelsior"......what? Like Excalibur but more scales? Who knows? The LFS had tried googling the name the supplier had given but no luck. It reminds me of those pretty striped sea catfish that swim about in a swarming ball but those dont have the tan markings this fish has and this fish doesnt have the catfish whiskers. The swimming motion reminds me of a clownfish - that "waddling" swim they do but more graceful because of its flowing fins (which remind me of a veiltail goldfish....or mermaid....not helpful, I know). Anyway, over to you guys -
what is it?
What does it need?
Is it a bargain or a major headache?
Should I rescue it?

http/s1143.photobucket.com/albums/n623/DevillishAngelfish/?action=view&current=122011779.mp4

 

[Baccus]

Saw this at the LFS today and fell in instant and rapturous love (as you do before you get to know the person...er...fish). Stopped self from buying it instantly because I didnt know what it was (and I can recognise most fish and even if I dont know the name, I can usually tell the genus or family). This one has me stumped. Where is it from? What water paras does it like/need? What does it eat? It was priced at $40 which suggests to me its unusual or hard to get. It was the only one in the shop.The LFS guy (who frequently mis-identifies his marine stuff anyway) had no idea. It was in a tank with some corals and the only name on the tank given for it was "Excelsior"......what? Like Excalibur but more scales? Who knows? The LFS had tried googling the name the supplier had given but no luck. It reminds me of those pretty striped sea catfish that swim about in a swarming ball but those dont have the tan markings this fish has and this fish doesnt have the catfish whiskers. The swimming motion reminds me of a clownfish - that "waddling" swim they do but more graceful because of its flowing fins (which remind me of a veiltail goldfish....or mermaid....not helpful, I know). Anyway, over to you guys -
what is it?
What does it need?
Is it a bargain or a major headache?
Should I rescue it?

http/s1143.photobu...t=122011779.mp4

Really unhelpful I know but it reminds me of the fish in the movie Shark Tales ( I think that's the one it came out after Finding Nemo had I think Will Smith in it as the little stripey fish), the guy at my local LFS who usually knows his fish is really interested in it too but has to work tomorrw so can't get down to see it in the flesh. He also couldn't believe that P&P could get something in and not know what they ordered.

Try looking up Striped Blenny Meicanthus grammistes.

 

[Donya]

Looks sort of like a juvi sweetlips of some sort? I have seen very similar looking young ones that were in that group. They have the waggle swim as well at that size. If that is the group it's in...all the ones I'm aware of get on the order of a foot or more in length. I could also be totally out to lunch.

It was priced at $40 which suggests to me its unusual or hard to get

I don't see a country/location in your profile; where is this store, broadly speaking? Where I'm at (New England in the USA) $40 for a marine fish is nothing special really.

Should I rescue it?

At the risk of missing a joke (I can never tell when things like this are meant in jest on the net), please don't "rescue" an animal if the store got it in deliberately and doesn't see anything wrong with the setup/animal. Unless it was truly a shipping mistake and the LFS did not mean to have it in the first place and doesn't want another, buying one encourages bringing in more under the same conditions. "Rescuing" one individual can cause a bunch more to show up.

 

[Devilish Angelfish]

Looks sort of like a juvi sweetlips of some sort? I have seen very similar looking young ones that were in that group. They have the waggle swim as well at that size. If that is the group it's in...all the ones I'm aware of get on the order of a foot or more in length. I could also be totally out to lunch.

It was priced at $40 which suggests to me its unusual or hard to get

I don't see a country/location in your profile; where is this store, broadly speaking? Where I'm at (New England in the USA) $40 for a marine fish is nothing special really.

Should I rescue it?

At the risk of missing a joke (I can never tell when things like this are meant in jest on the net), please don't "rescue" an animal if the store got it in deliberately and doesn't see anything wrong with the setup/animal. Unless it was truly a shipping mistake and the LFS did not mean to have it in the first place and doesn't want another, buying one encourages bringing in more under the same conditions. "Rescuing" one individual can cause a bunch more to show up.

G'day Donya, thanks for your reply (I'm related to Baccus, so she doesn't count ) I live in Queensland, Australia, on the Great Barrier Reef. So reef fish here are very cheap. Thus, a $40 fish is sorta in the middle range of expensive. Up there with Tangs and things. I am familiar with sweetlip - they're a popular eating fish here. All the big reef fish are, actually. I have seen, caught or eaten most of the common reef species here which is why this little guy has me so intrigued. Never seen one. By "rescue", I meant save it from dying from starvation/ignorant treatment at the LFS or hands of someone less interested in keeping it alive. I am well known at that LFS and they are well known to me - I shop there because I know more about their marine stock than they do and often find their fish/corals are misidentified and thus mis-priced (usually in my favor). They keep their tanks clean and their turn over requires a new marine shipment every 2nd week and their pricing is usually $10-$15 lower than the other 2 LFSs in the area. That said, they dont know a whole lot about their marine stock (they told me the orange zoas were anemones), ignore me when I remind them they shouldnt be handling the zoas with bare hands, and generally remain ignorant about their fishy charges and their specific needs. And this isn't a chainstore, either - its owned by a family so they have the time to learn, if they wanted. I would hate the little guy to die because no one knew what he was and what he needed. The LFS told me they hadnt ordered him, he came as a "filler" for something else that wasn't available so I'm dubious that they could get more if they tried. He's just such a cute little guy!!

 

[-Nemo-]

Agree with sweetlips of some sort.

 

[kj23502]

Yes it's a sweet lips. You are looking at fish that is at least 2 feet long.


http/www.wetwebmedia.com/SweetlipsA.html

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Looks like an oriental sweet lips.