Prognathodes carlhubbsi is a species of deep cool water butterflyfish which bears a close resemblance to the classic scythe butterflyfish, P. falcifer. The image above is a screencap from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s guide to Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific which clearly shows the color and pattern differences between these two sympatric species of Prognathodes. The two big differences between P. falcifer and P. carlhubbsi is the distribution of yellow (it is more vivid and absent from the flank in P. falcifer) and the shape of the inverted “V” which is more angular and reaches the base of the dorsal spines in P. carlhubbsi. The eye and nose stripes of P. carlhubbsi are also much more pronounced and black than for P. falcifer. Furthermore, these two species are more or less geographically isolated with P. falcifer more likely to be found in the north end of the range near the Catalina Islands and Baja whereas P. carlhubbsi can be found in the south end of the range around the Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island. Don’t expect to see this species available in the trde because not only does it inhabit deeper waters that make it harder to catch but both of the species require cold water that stays well below 70 degrees to live and thrive. More shots of both species after the break.

Scythe Butterflyfish- Prognathodes falcifer

Southern Scythe butterflyfish- Prognathodes carlhubbsi- images by Roger Steene

Mating rituals in the marine world are always intriguing and can be elusive to catch on camera especially when it comes to the reef denizens. This great video chronicles the Striped Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) spawning on a reef in a mangrove lagoon in Guam. Brought to you by the team at Aquaqest Video Productions (who have to have some of the coolest jobs, BTW), Pete and the team not only bring you the “action” but do an excellent job in documenting just how hard it is to catch these tiny, colorful creatures on film.

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Post from: Reef Builders

OMG! Fish voyeur heaven: Mandarinfish caught in the act

OMG! Fish voyeur heaven: Mandarinfish caught in the act

Nothing beats a good spa treatment to erase the tension of a tough week at work—the manicure, pedicure, massage…the works. Reef fishes (and not just the females) know how to benefit from a little pampering at stations manned by cleaner wrasses—the wrasses set up shop in a particular spot on the reef (or your tank), and soon the other fish know where to go to get a little TLC. We have always looked at the cleaning function and mutualism—the “patron” gets cleaned of parasites and the cleaner gets a good meal—as the sole purpose of the transaction. But is that all that goes on?

It turns out the answer is decidedly no. In addition to nibbling off parasites, it was noted that cleaner wrasses “massage” their clients—gently stroking them with their fins. They seemed to give extra attention to piscivorous fish (that might make a meal of the wrasse), and even more attention when the client was hungry. So the massage seems to pacify the client fish and make it less likely the wrasse gets eaten.

When researchers tested this in aquaria, they found something even more surprising:  fish which have gotten the full massage treatment are less likely to be aggressive to ALL the other fish in the tank. Aquaria were set up with an assortment of fish, plus or minus cleaner wrasses, and observed. To illustrate the experiment, it’s convenient to think of a closed aquarium like high school; you have your football jock/bullies (here they used slingjaw wrasses), your, er, fish geek targets (fang blennies and two-tone wrasses), and everyone else. In normal conditions the slingjaws will bully the blennies. This happens often in our aquaria when bigger or more aggressive species are mixed with peaceful community fish—the jocks beat up the geeks. But, in tanks with cleaner wrasse stations, the bullies attacked only half as often. One might think that this was simply because the bullies were too busy getting cleaned, but the calming effect lasted even when the cleaning stopped.  In fact, it seemed the longer and more thorough the massage aspect, the more docile the client fish was rendered.

Can reefkeepers exploit this natural mutualism? It would appear so in tanks large enough to provide sufficient food for the cleaner wrasse. One of the largest contributors to disease susceptibility and increased mortality in fish is stress. Adding a cleaner wrasse would create a “safe haven” for fishes to visit, and the fishes that get serviced leave not only feeling clean and sexy, but less aggressive. This benefits even the fish that do not get cleaned as the general tank atmosphere would be more peaceful. This benefits the wrasse as well—relaxed fish which are not as concerned with avoiding predators spend more time at cleaning stations, this giving the cleaner wrasse a better meal.

Cheney, K.L., Bshary, R., and Grutter, A.S. 2008. Cleaner fish cause predators to reduce aggression toward bystanders at cleaning stations. Behavioral Ecology 19(5) pp 1063-1067.

Photo credit: Nick Hobgood

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Post from: Reef Builders

Even reef fish like a good massage

Even reef fish like a good massage

Apparently back in August of this year PETCO decided to “go blue” (link to their announcement) in their aquatics department. This “go blue” is being described as “PETCO believes in taking a preventative and healthier approach to maintaining a fish’s health and home.” But what does this mean? Besides having a “flip-book” of information of 3 (Water conditioning, tank maintenance, and care solutions) at their stores PETCO announced that they would stop carrying fish antibiotics, effective August 10th, 2009. That’s great. The funny part is how they are pitching it:

It’s not often that a corporation as big as PETCO can say they’re going to “do the right thing”, but that’s exactly what we’re doing.  We are going to help teach customers how to cure their fish through safe, healthy, and proven methods.  Find your nearest PETCO store and speak with an Aquatics associate for more details.

What? PETCO is stopping the sale of fish antibiotics because PETCO is focused on doing the right thing? Wow. Great. I’m all for it. I’m sure PETCO would like us to drive over to our nearest PETCO’s and give them our wallets. But before we do that, let’s analyze the following picture:

Several of you have chimed into our comments section when we first raised issue with PETCO selling saltwater fish. Most of you agreed that PETCO totally sucks at taking care of and maintaining their saltwater systems. However, some of you say that “some” stores out there that don’t totally suck. So I have a homework assignment for you, go to your local PETCO and take snaps of their saltwater section and then send them to me (ryan DOT gripp AT reefbuilders.com). I’m curious as to how many stores really do suck and those that are OK.

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Post from: Reef Builders

PECTO going blue on saltwater, freshwater fish

PECTO going blue on saltwater, freshwater fish

Described as the guppy of the saltwater world, the Banggai cardinal is extremely easy to breed. More importantly, populations in their native range are threatened, get this, by over collection for the marine hobby. This equation seems like a no brainer: cool fish + easy to breed + threatened = everyone should breed them. They don’t take much space to work with, the males carry the eggs until they hatch, and raising the fry is an excellent introduction to home culturing because raising baby brine shrimp to feed the fry is also extremely easy. Breeding these fish is an great learning experience and if enough of us do it, could have a real world impact on wild populations.

I have two pairs of Banggai, one captive bred and one wild caught, and with extreme minimal effort on my part I have produced over 60 little cardinals in the last year that have gone to pet stores, reef club members and public aquariums. Thats 60 fish that weren’t taken out of the wild, and weren’t subjected to the chain of custody that produces so many Banggai cardinal mortalities. It didn’t take much work, it was easy to place the fish, and my wife and my 6 year old daughter love having the cute little fish around.

So many of us have been pining for a way to actually make a positive difference in the hobby we love, and here it is. Got an empty tank laying around? You should breed Banggai cardinals. Got a sump with some space? You should breed Banggai cardinals. Got some kind of refugium? You should breed Banggai cardinals.

There is lots of info all over the web, but click here for an article in Reef Hobbyist Magazine that can help you get started:

Happy breeding!

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Post from: Reef Builders

Breed Banggai Cardinals!

Breed Banggai Cardinals!