Mimic Tang questions
 

Hey everybody. I had a question about some of the mimic tangs. I'm very interested in getting one, and the Chocolate Mimic Tang (Acanthurus pyroferus) seems to be the leading candidate (specifically, a beautiful fish that i saw here in this link [url]http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/tangs/chocolate.php[/url]).

But, in doing some research, I've also seen Mimic tangs as Acanthurus chronixis (or Chronixis Tang) and Acanthurus tristis (or Indian Ocean Mimic). There seems to be much less information on these 2 species. I assume that these 2 species also don't change coloration between juveniles and adults. Is that correct?

Anyways, I'd love to hear some of your experiences with all these mimics (and see some pictures). This fish would go in a 150 gallon tank, and be one of the primary inhabitants of my reef.

Acanthurus chronixis mimics the half black angel and is fairly rare from my understanding and not commonly available in the hobby. Acanthurus tristis mimics the Eibl's angel and is very beautiful as a juvie but is quite drab as an adult. The pyroferus is the most common mimic and is the best looking as an adult IMO.

I have a pyroferus and he is a pretty cool fish and one of the more suitable Acanthurus genus tangs. He is very hardy and stays small for a tang, plus they are attractive in both their juvie and adult coloration.

I have Acanthurus Chronixis and I love it.
[IMG]http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i153/jpslickorocks/mimictang1.jpg[/IMG]

Great picture of the chronixis. I would love to see more pictures of folks who have mimic tangs, and also, where would be a good place online to pick up the Chocolate mimic as a half-black or elibi mimicing juvenile?

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9084299#post9084299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crvz [/i]
[B]Great picture of the chronixis. I would love to see more pictures of folks who have mimic tangs, and also, where would be a good place online to pick up the Chocolate mimic as a half-black or elibi mimicing juvenile? [/B][/QUOTE]
juvi chocolates ([I]Acanthurus pyroferus[/I]) mimic the Lemonpeel Angelfish ;)

[img]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/7144139_3967.JPG[/img]

same fish less than a year later as a sub adult

[img]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/523/7144new_pics_101_11_.jpg[/img]

and same fish adult coloration
[img]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/totm/images/IMG_1612keeper.jpg[/img]

Hey Gary,
I assume you are saying that the Acanthurus pyroferus only mimics the lemonpeel (hence the wink!). Some of these online retailers, as well as wetwebmedia, somewhat imply that the pyroferus can be a mimic of a number of Centropyge angels, but I guess I'm reading into that incorrectly (and why I'm asking the questions). Are my assumptions correct? Thanks!

as far as I know at the moment.... tristis only mimics Eibl's, pyroferus only mimics Lemonpeel and chronixis only mimics the half black....

From what I have read the pyroferus mimics the lemonpeel, herald's, and the half black angels. The chronixis mimics the half black, and the tristus mimics the Eibl's angel.

Here's a couple of pics of my pyroferus (herald's angel mimic variant), as a solid yellow juvie and starting to darken up as a sub adult

Juvie
[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1583tang_rabbit_jpg.jpg [/IMG]

sub adult
[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1583mini-mimic_2.JPG [/IMG]

I'm getting smarter by the minute! Thanks for the pictures, Tuna.

Does someone know what the differences are between the pictures that Gary posted and the blue coloration of the one below and that I've linked in the first post? I like the blue a little more, though they are both beautiful fish, and I'd like to know what I'm getting before hand if at all possible.

[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/97852mimic_tang.jpg [/IMG]

(i hope my picture here is not breaking the rules, but credit marinecenter.com for the image)

Here are three pics of Acanthurus pyroferus all taken by John Randall. Lemonpeel, half black, and heralds angel mimics. All of these fish are the same species.

[IMG]http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Acpyr_u3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Acpyr_u0.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Acpyr_j0.jpg[/IMG]

Here is some pics of the tristis, both juvie and adult, also by John Randall.

[IMG]http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Actri_j0.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Actri_u3.jpg[/IMG]

Couldn't find a Randall pic of the chronixis tang but did learn it is only found in the Caroline Islands. (fishbase)

crvz- you are welcome! This is one of the most color variable fish species out there, every time I see one it seems a little different from the next, both juvie and adult. My fish seems to change from week to week sometimes and I really dont know what he is going to look like as an adult.

Gary- that's about the most beautiful mimic tang I have ever seen, nice fish!

thanx, KT. You're right- pyroferus mimics a number of Centropyge depending on locality.
fishbase mentions some others:
[url]http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=4742&genusname=Acanthurus&speciesname=pyroferus[/url]

Most of the specimens formerly recognized as A. chronixis were later found to be A. pyroferus, anyway.

KT, thanks for such a consise response! Seems to clear up that concern. And I assume, based on your repsonse above, that a blue variant to a brown variant is extremely hard to esitmate in a juvenile, and it's really just a crap shoot. Is that correct?

Also, maybe I should reask my question. Is there a good online resource for obtaining a half-black juvenile variant of the Acanthurus pyroferus?

I also had a similar question when reserching for fish for my upcomming upgrade. I want to put some kind of mimic but one who has beautiful adult colors. Like this one..... [IMG]http://www.bostonreefers.org/totm/2006Winter/Mufflerguy/images/Fish/Two_Tangs[1].jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.bostonreefers.org/totm/2006Winter/Mufflerguy/images/Fish/DSC8130[1].jpg[/IMG]
I dont know what kind of mimic this is. I asked here and was told it might be a chocolate mimic. The owner of this tang dosent know what kind it is either as it was sold to him as a indian mimic tang.

Most of the on line suppliers seem to get the lemonpeel mimics rather than the other variants. Here in So Cal where I live its usually the half black mimics that show up in stores. I would keep my eye on Live Aquaria's divers den, it's a what you see is what you get fish sales and I have seen half black mimics offered there before. I have seen a very wide range of adult coloration in this species so I would imagine it really is anybodys guess as to how a given juvenile is going to turn out.

That mimic tang in the pics with the kole looks like an Acanthurus pyroferus lemonpeel angel variant to me. It looks like its coming out of it's juvenile phase and transitioning to the adult coloration.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9086302#post9086302 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kahuna Tuna [/i]
[B]That mimic tang in the pics with the kole looks like an Acanthurus pyroferus lemonpeel angel variant to me. It looks like its coming out of it's juvenile phase and transitioning to the adult coloration. [/B][/QUOTE]
agreed. Did you see the pic I posted of mine as a sub adult? :confused:

Thanks guys. Yes Gary. I was just making sure as how can you really tell how a juvi will turn out. I know it wont look 100% like the one I pictured but it would be nice to come out a little close. So I guess I will be looking for a lemonpeel mimic tang when I upgrade.

Thanks for all the responses so far, and I really like all the pictures. I'm bumping this thread in hopes that someone has pictures of their half-black mimic tang (Acanthurus pyroferus) as a juvenile and adult. But, I'd really love pictures of any mimic tangs. Thanks!

Heres mine.

[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/texasholdemtreg/Reef%20Fish/IMG_2019.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/texasholdemtreg/Reef%20Fish/Mimic-Tang.jpg[/IMG]

I fell in love with this fish when I seen NAGA's.
(his pic, hope its ok.)
[IMG]http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/texasholdemtreg/DSC00251.jpg[/IMG]

Great pics of a beautiful fish. I just added a juvi to my tank. Looking forward to the color change. I'm partial to the subtle coloration of this fish.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9085041#post9085041 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crvz [/i]
[B]I'm getting smarter by the minute! Thanks for the pictures, Tuna.

Does someone know what the differences are between the pictures that Gary posted and the blue coloration of the one below and that I've linked in the first post? I like the blue a little more, though they are both beautiful fish, and I'd like to know what I'm getting before hand if at all possible.

[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/97852mimic_tang.jpg [/IMG]

(i hope my picture here is not breaking the rules, but credit marinecenter.com for the image) [/B][/QUOTE]

FYI
I recalled seing that photo when I was researching tangs, it is from The Marine Center and if you read the description "Adults do NOT have blue fins (thats a funky underwater photo).

My adult has a blueish sheen to it's fins. They aren't blue like that photoshopped pic, but they are colorful. It is about 5-6" and grown from a baby. They get even more colorful as they grow.