New Frogfish

[andywg]

Well, today I was in a fish store I don't normally frequent and even rarer purchase from. I was looking at the lionfish species they have while planning a FOWLR when I noticed a frogfish sitting in one of the tanks trying to lure at a shoal of fish in the next tank.

Naturally I had to have him. He is temporarily housed in the refugium of my reef tank and will soon move to a tank of his own. This first picture shows how similar he is to my existing one:

The new frog is an Antennarius hispidus so should stay a little smaller than the existing frog. The two species actually make up the Antennarius striatus group which lies within the Antennarius genus. I do not expect anything much greater than 6" in captivity.

The main difference between the two is that A. striatus has a worm-like esca (or lure) whereas that of A. hispidus is more like a pom-pom. I do not have a picture of the new one luring, but here is one of the old one to show the worm-like esca.

Another difference in the lures is that while A. striatus has scent glands in the lure to even more entice prey (particularly at night) some specimens of A. hispidus have been observed with bio-luminescent lures. Finally, A. striatus tend to have more filamentous growth and thus look more "shaggy".

The face on pictures below also show a different structure to the face in the snout as well.

Anyway, enough talk of the fish, and on with the eye candy

 

[atmmachine816]

Just awesome fish

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

Very, very cool. What are the plans for his new tank?

 

[jayjay]

Nice Andy, what size will it go into? And how much was it?

 

[andywg]

Fish was £42 and he will probably end up in the tank I currently have the other frog in when I move that frog out. Otherwise I will put him in a slightly larger tank that is destined for sea horses and move out a little later.

Another possibility is to put him in a tank by the side of the sofa.

So many places for small tanks. The joy of keeping smaller fish for once.

 

[CFC]

Very very nice, its great when you find a fish you really want when you least expect it

 

[GuppyDude]

Neato, can the two frog fishes live together, or interbreed?

 

[andywg]

Neato, can the two frog fishes live together, or interbreed?

I would not want to risk keeping them together as A. striatus is known to eat conspecifics of equal and similar size. Some frogfishes are alright in groups (bar a little territory aggression) but two species are true gluttons and as such it just isn't worth it.

I suppose interbreeding might be possible as they are quite similar, but I am not sure. I hope to eventually have a go at breeding a smaller species such as A. maculatus or A. multiocellatus though that will have to wait for a little while yet.

I just no other frogfishes appear in shops any time soon as I will have to really struggle to find room for any more, but know I won't be able to pass them up

 

[GuppyDude]

yes, better safe than sorry i suppose. They are very beutiful fish.

 

[andywg]

The eating abilities of frogfish are something that is extremely impressive. I have seen pics of one eating a clearfin lionfish (Pterois radiata) which has a body the same size as the frog. Add on to that all the fins and long rays and you have a pretty large looking fish (not to mention venomous) yet Scott Michael has noticed that in captivity the frogfish just can't get enough of that lionfish goodness.

I would love to get some pictures of a frog mid strike, but it is so hard. The 4th one of the big block of photos is the new frog literally just about to strike at a shrimp. However frogfish have been timed at 0.3 seconds from starting to lunge until engulfing the prey, so you need a very fast trigger finger.