Hawkfish Reproduction

[Matthew37]

Does any one know about the spawning and rearing of Hawkfish? I don't think there sexually dichromatic, and they seem to be available in pairs?

I heard that the longnose hawkfish (oxycirrhites typus) had spawned in captivity and that they engage in a "courting dance". And they are know to lay demersal (bottom) eggs. And I found this quote "This Hawkfish has been bred for over 10 years, although it's very rare. The female lays adhesive eggs, which may be a unique factor among Hawks." And thats all I could find.

Thanks

[Luis A M]

Yes,I also saw that reference,which could be wrong.The family is pelagic spawner.Long noses pair up and stay together.
To save you time,the ONLY pelagic spawner ever raised by hobbyists are the mandarins Synchiropus spp.

[MimicTang]

Longnose are not pelagic.

[aomont]

I think they are ! I think all hawkfishes are.

Pelagic spawning of the hawkfish Oxycirrhites typus (Cirrhitidae)
Terry J. Donaldson & Patrick L. Colin
Environmental Biology of Fishes Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 295-300, 1989

Sexual pattern of Neocirrhites annatus (Cirrhiaae) with notes on other hawkfish species
Yvonne Sadovy & Terry J. Donaldson
Environmental Biology of Fishes 42: 143-150,1995.

Check also at http://www.fishbase.org

Anderson.

[Peter Schmiedel]

Originally posted by MimicTang
Longnose are not pelagic.

MT,

mine are - guess you mixed something up. AFAIK all hawkfish are pelagic spawners

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by Peter Schmiedel
MT,

mine are - guess you mixed something up. AFAIK all hawkfish are pelagic spawners

You saw them spawning/eggs?.Tell us!

[Galilean]

Reef Fishes, by Scott W. Michael states that "Although once thought to be a demersal spawner, field observations confirm that like most hawkfishes, this species (O. typus) produces pelagic eggs."

He also says they can be pairs or haremic. Size and color differences are said to be very subtle with conflicting published opinions about whether they exist at all. So pairing would have to be established on behavior.

[Luis A M]

You right Galilean! Papers Aomont shows prove conclusively that O.typus is a pelagic spawner as the rest of the family.Amazing how deep were the roots of that urban legend
Besides they show that most if not all hawkfish are female to male sex changers.
But even if a pelagic spawner,longnose remains a good candidate for tank breeding,giving their small adult size and kind disposition once they are mated.

[billsreef]

Originally posted by Luis A M
Amazing how deep were the roots of that urban legend

Those roots go back at least to a brief passage in Thresher's old out of print book on Reproduction in Reef Fish. It's based on a single questionable aquarium observation, and presented as such in that book. IIRC the last printing was in the 70's, it's still an excellent resource but I wish someone would undertake a major updated revision of that work.

[aomont]

Maybe that urban legend was followed by the mouthbrooding jawfish !
Anderson.

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by aomont


Pelagic spawning of the hawkfish Oxycirrhites typus (Cirrhitidae)
Terry J. Donaldson & Patrick L. Colin
Environmental Biology of Fishes Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 295-300, 1989

As a side note,it was nice to find that Patrick Colin co-authored that work.Patrick was one of the first researchers using scuba gear for field studies.His book on neon gobies is anthological,and still a valuable reference.

[aomont]

Just to rephrase my post and look a little less dumb, I was going to joke with the "mouthbrooding" ROYAL GRAMMA, not jawfish... which indeed are mouthbrooders.
Anderson.

[Peter Schmiedel]

Luis.

I have had one pair spawning for 3 years before the female died. As I was not sure what the natural aging is I waited 8 month before I added a smaller one to the existing male. It only took them 2 month before the first spawning could be observed - the old one remained to be the male. To actually see them spawning is quite a challenge as they only release eggs in the complete darkness of my tanks lightning phase. The day after you can clearly see that the female is much slimmer again.

The aquarist can observe the courtship behavior rather easy:

* Following each other
* As later it gets as more the eggs hydrate in the females body
* Both get rather focused on "sitting" places near the surface
* Spawning takes place close to the surface in strong current (basically no differnce to other pelagic spawner's)

One of the reasons I started to join the breeding community is that almost all my fish have had spawned. But be aware I heavily feed my fish, focus on "behavior enrichment", try to keep fish happy and social active and observe / try to analyze their behavior a lot. Attached picture makes clear what I call heavy feeding:



I wish I would life coastal, could catch natural plankton and would not have a 10-12 hours daily job *sigh*

[Luis A M]

Hi Peter,all is very interesting!
It is the same for other pelagic spawners;they spawn every night and nobody notice.The trick here is to screen surface outflow 1hr after lights off.
Long nose hawks seem good candidated for breeding,based in your experience and the fact that they are small and pair off easily.Similar to the only pelagic spawners raised by hobbyists,the Synchiropus dragonettes.

Your nutritional/environmental aproach sounds great,this fat yellow tang is something!.Guess you could try spawning them! Tell us more...

Not much to gain living close to temperate seas,of the local copepods,probably A.tonsa is the only that survives warm water.Only free SW if you could pump it.We must culture good pod species

[aomont]

Peter, if you "would not have a 10-12 hours daily job" that yellow tang would be misidentified as a yellow boxfish !
Great photos you have here and nice to here about the longnose spawning.

Anderson.

[Peter Schmiedel]

Luis,

in fact I believe my pair Z. falvescens did spawn once ! Behavior was indicating also I did not see the spawning itself.

Subject coastal: I meant more being relocated to the Florida Keys, the Philippines or the GBR