Butterfly Goby Vs. Freshwater Lionfish

[jtipton]

I have what I think is a butterfly goby / waspfish (Neovespicula depressifrons) in my tank. He is about 2 inches long. Recently I bought "Brack-Water Fishes" by Neale Monks. Very cool book by the way. It has already helped me properly plant my Italian Val. I was flipping through the book, and ran across the Freshwater Lionfish (Notesthes Robusta). This fish gets to be 12" long instead of the expected 4" for the butterfly goby. Now I need to identify him in case my 20 gallon isn't big enough. So, now for the question...

Does the book have the wrong picture (page 337) or do I have the wrong fish? He looks exactly like the pictures in the book, and in the Neovespicula Depressifrons link below.

"Brack-Water Fishes" by Neale Monks

Notesthes Robusta

Neovespicula Depressifrons

Finally, this might explain the rumors of 12" butterfly gobies (el_vulture619)

 

[smudger72]

That's a really good question. I had noticed the same thing as well.
I googled pictures of the freshwater lionfish and they look nothing like the picture in Neales book.
I hope we get an answer.

 

[nmonks]

Hmm.... Neovespicula has 13/14 dorsal fin spines (as the fish in the photo does) whereas Notesthes has 15 dorsal fin spines. So counting fin spines is probably the best way to confirm the identity of the fish. Both fish have 3 anal fin spines.

Juveniles Notesthes look exactly the same as Neovespicula; adult Notesthes do of course become larger and much more robust in build.

Notesthes are as good as absent from the hobby any more; if I was writing the book manuscript today, I'd likely have included Neovespicula, a species that simply wasn't available until the last couple of years.

Cheers, Neale

 

[jtipton]

Maybe an expansion book is in order. $$$ Overall, great book though. My family really likes the mudskipper section.

 

[el_vulture619]

Well thanks for including me in this, I feel like I know something for once!

Your links didnt work, so I googled the Notesthes Robusta. Common name being the bullrout. I know exactly how you are feeling I found the same things a few years back when I was trying to get my first waspfish to survive a month!

I do not believe these are the same fish. Like Neale says going by the spines should be the best way. The waspfish has 3 long dorsal spines that are separate from the rest of the spines, making it look like a mohawk! When I did my searches I found that all the waspfish seem to have this feature of 3 separate dorsal spines.

Looking at the pictures of the bullrout you can tell that it is "Robusta" Its head is a lot wider and looks shorter in length. Now that I have a larger Waspfish, the heads are still the same as when they are young, slender and long.

Here is a link with a good picture of one.Bullrout
Another thing is the lower jaw is under the head. The waspfish jaw protrudes from beneath the head.

Your probably right, this fish may be responsible for those rumors, but I hope not!!