|
Paul,
You are correct in suggesting that it is unwise to make conclusions from only a few observations. Any observations are good and valuable, but you need a huge number to be statistically significant.
Kuiter and Debelius (2001) claim "Commonly seen in pairs, occasionally forming large travelling schools." and they include a couple of photographs of these schools from different locations. Are these rare observations and so are exceptions, or do we include them in the behaviour of the animal? Neither you or I have seen these schools so do we discount them?
Kuiter and Debelius also claim they eat a "diet of mixed algae and invertebrates such as sponges". Giving them sponges would be a good thing, but I would also recommend other invertebrate substitutes such as minced shrimp and mussels as well as some algal substitutes. Variety goes a long way to providing a balanced diet. A mate has had one (that was locally caught as a juvenile) for a couple of years now and as far as I am aware he does not include any sponge in the diet.
__________________
ATJ
|