Another Centropyge love story from two oceans (including one unique tank bred angel!)

[copps]

Just over a month ago in November of last year I received another pair of Centropyge from my good friend and owner of Reef Culture Technologies (www.rcthawaii.com) Frank Baensch out in Hawaii. The previous month in October I was in Hawaii for three weeks and met with Frank for three days when I was free and not working. One day was spent diving, one at the Bishop Museum with Rich Pyle, Jack Randall and John Earle going through their extensive angelfish collection among other things, and one just having beers and hanging out at his house just outside of Waikiki. I own many of Frank’s fish, and for those who haven’t read about them you could read this thread. Everyone is always wondering the status of Frank’s operation after he announced a long needed break from breeding about a year ago. He’s been doing some dive traveling in the meantime along with work on his PhD. The good news is that Frank has gone from planning the planning of his new facility to actually planning the new facility!  Please don’t ask when he’ll be ready… even he doesn’t know. But for us nuts like me it’s great to know he’ll be back… and he’s got some AMAZING things planned… let’s leave it at that for now… 

Anyway, the male of the new pair is one of his captive raised Centropyge interrupta. This was by far the most popular fish bred by RCT. Of all of the fish I have from Frank, the only one I’ve lost is his broodstock male C. interrupta that fathered all of his captive raised specimens. This fish is one of the many profiled in the above linked thread. The fish died in 2007 and was at least eight years old, having first been spawned back in 2002. I knew when I got him that he was old, but I was happy to keep this historic fish for the remainder of its life in one of my systems. So, being without an interrupta, I was happy to get a hold of one of his sons now…  Centropyge interrupta is a beautiful fish once thought to be endemic to Japan until an individual was collected in 1979 at Kure Atoll, the most Northwestern of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). Since then breeding populations have been recorded from Kure, Midway, and Pearl and Hermes Reef of the NWHI. C. interrupta is the largest of all Centropyge attaining a length of about 6 inches and is also one of the most sexually dimorphic. Wild specimens enter the trade from Japan, but most all are large and tough to adapt to captivity for numerous reasons.

Anyway, here are some shots of junior… The first two are taken in a specimen container with flash, so the fish lacks a lot of the blue that appears when viewing the fish in person. I apologize for this, as all I have is a point and shoot camera. I am soon entering the digital SLR age in the next few weeks and will update the photos. The last image is in the display tank and is my best shot of the fish as it appears in person… just a stunning species!






Now for the kicker… can I get a drumroll?  The female of the pair is Frank’s one and only captive raised Centropyge joculator! Seasoned angelfish nuts will have to reread this above sentence a few times…  Let it sink in… Here’s the story. When Frank was in production a few years back, he was working with Centropyge debelius and Centropyge joculator simultaneously along with the other species. He found both of these Indian Ocean species very tough to raise. For obvious reasons Frank put his efforts more into the debelius as he was just one man with limited time and resources. He combined the remaining joc larvae with the debelius larvae, thinking that no jocs had survived. Well… after metamorphosis he saw what he thought was an oddly colored debelius. It took him a while to realize that one (yes just one!) Centropyge joculator had made it through! Frank held onto this special fish into adulthood. As he condensed systems while taking a break, the fish was put with other species… After a while she took to one of the interrupta angel and they began spawning! What a love story… Here’re pics of this historic fish!







This was not an intentioned pair and Frank never messed with the eggs, but when talking back in October I thought it was too cool… and I of course could not break them up. So, I took them from Frank and have given them a home in my 180 gallon sps display (shown in my avatar). They are the only dwarf angels in that aquarium at the moment… although there are a few other large angels of course. As with all of the fish I receive from Frank, I feel like I am cheating… there is no adaptation period… no nail biting… no QT… I drop them in and within hours they are just one of the gang… 

[copps]

This came at a great time… about six months ago I received a trio of tiny wild joculators profiled in this thread … here’s two shots… one of the trio and a nice one showing the ocellus on the dorsal fin of one of the small jocs…





Anyway, after adapting these, I placed them together and noticed very little aggression. After going away on business for a week I came back to find that the largest of the three (and the one with just one eye) had become aggressive in their small system. I separated the three, but the smallest did not make it. The other two have grown very well though since. So, my plans are to introduce these two small guys to the display to make a harem. The dynamics are quite interesting, and I wonder of the large joc will turn male… time shall tell. I plan on maybe also adding two small wild interrupta to the mix down the road…

The October Hawaii trip was highlighted by so many events… including the capture of the first Genicanthus personatus in the Main Hawaiian Islands in over 10 years described in this thread. Another highlight I have not mentioned is the day I spent diving with Frank and another friend of mine Bill Crook (pactrop here on RC). Bill’s claim to angelfish fame is being the collector of the one and only known Centropyge potteri/Centropyge fisheri hybrid now on display at the Waikiki Aquarium. Frank is an accomplished underwater photographer and took a bunch of pics of us collecting. His personal photography site is Blue Reef Photo The first shot shows me palming a Centropyge potteri with Bill in the background (hey, it’s no personatus, but still exciting! ).



This next shot shows me catching Hawaii gold . Don’t worry, the ornate butterflies were not touched! 


Thanks again to Bill for hosting us and Frank for snapping photos... I selectively chose the photos where I actually look like I know what I’m doing collecting!

Happy New Year to all!

Copps

[zemuron114]

john, i haven't heard from you in a while!

How many tanks do you have now? lol

[DeltecRules]

Wow John very nice. Hopefully someday soon I will be able to afford one of those Jocs or a interuptus anegls

[gasman059]

copps always interesting and insightfull threads THX

[Fairy Wrassler]

Thanks from me too copps. I really gotta learn to use one of them there breathing thingys and get down there where the fishes are.....

Are all of the interruptus entering the trade from Japan or are they collected anywhere else?

At 6" they would give other dwarf angels what for....


Thanks,
FW

[racerw]

Aahhh I came across a post from you awhile ago about receiving some angels & what an interesting pair you have....very nice.
That is exciting news about Frank coming back hopefully it will be sooner than later.

I also wanted to put my Interruptus w/my pair of Jocs & hybrid trio who got along fine, it did not work at all, my male Joc was nasty mean. I had to remove the joc pair & added them to another system. The Interruptus pair & the hybrid trio get along fine. I wish you tons of luck to get those fish to live together peacefully...if anyone can do it I am sure you can I think it would be an an awesome sight to see to see a pair of Interruptus & harem of Jocs living together.

[copps]

Originally posted by zemuron114
john, i haven't heard from you in a while!

How many tanks do you have now? lol

I was busy with family and friends in town for Christmas... and our two and half year old had his first Christmas where he realized "Hey... I get stuff! " I now know what my father went through with my toys... for Dads Christmas should be called "The Day of Assembly".

Originally posted by DeltecRules
Wow John very nice. Hopefully someday soon I will be able to afford one of those Jocs or a interuptus anegls

Yeah, you look like a poor reefer with that fish collection you have going! ... A few months ago I got a tiny 2" Tinker's for myself... I've been digging little fish lately...

Originally posted by Fairy Wrassler
Thanks from me too copps. I really gotta learn to use one of them there breathing thingys and get down there where the fishes are.....

Are all of the interruptus entering the trade from Japan or are they collected anywhere else?

At 6" they would give other dwarf angels what for....


Thanks,
FW

You live in Brisbane and don't dive? That's like growing up in Vail and not skiing! All of the interrupta angels do come from Japan, as there is no collection in the NWHI...

Originally posted by racerw
Aahhh I came across a post from you awhile ago about receiving some angels & what an interesting pair you have....very nice.

I also wanted to put my Interruptus w/my pair of Jocs & hybrid trio who got along fine, it did not work at all, my male Joc was nasty mean. I had to remove the joc pair & added them to another system. The Interruptus pair & the hybrid trio get along fine. I wish you tons of luck to get those fish to live together peacefully...if anyone can do it I am sure you can I think it would be an an awesome sight to see to see a pair of Interruptus & harem of Jocs living together.

I always wait a while for my new fish to settle in before posting them... I'm soon receiving a pair of angels that is just a dream of dreams... I'll share them after a little while...

Your male joc was full grown at about 3.5 inches, which probably decreased those chances... One of the best things we could do to increase chances when combining any fish is be sure that all fish are in tip top condition... especially the newly added fish... as they are much more able to take that initial beating if they are in good shape to start...

Thanks again all...

Copps

[racerw]

I can't wait to hear about your soon to be new additions, I'm sure it will be amazing.
The Tinkers is cute. In my opinion small/juvi fish are the way to go. I love watching them grow

[LargeAngels]

So that is what you needed the chiller for. Sweet fish.

Tell Frank that the third fish from left, top row, http://bluereef.smugmug.com/gallery/2663725/5 is an Amphiprion Chrysopters (white tail version) and not A. clarkii.

[copps]

The chiller I had been planning for a while, and would have been necessary anyway. I now have chillers on all of my systems plumbed to my garage, and have moved away from evaporative cooling to cut down on humidity in the house... I have all of the fans off now, but hooked up to a controller so that they'll turn on if the chiller malfunctions... an inexpensive backup system...

I'll tell Frank... he's got many mistakes on there that are just oversights... including an Acanthurus coeruleus listed in Hawaii, and all of the grey and French angels listed under Holacanthus! I am amazed at the variation in coloration I see on chrysopterus clowns all on the tiny island of Guam alone...

[LargeAngels]

One of my favorite clowns. I guess that is why I have a few pairs. Yes, the coloring can be quite varying.

[copps]

Before seeing those, I always though such drastic color variation was not seen in the same region, but it is...

[Mark]

Great pics John! How is your resplendens doing?

[copps]

The resplendens is doing well... I very nervously had to take half of their tank apart last week to catch the resplendens and fisheri. Geneticists in Puerto Rico have studied the DNA from the hybrids that Frank produced and found some very exciting results... something never before seen in fishes... and so they needed exact genetic samples from the parents. I very nervously caught them and snipped a section of their tail fin. Thank God they've recovered... The findings will be written up in a major scientific journal, and when they are I'll post here of course...

[ezcompany]

although i'm not an angelfish nut, the sheer passion i see from you for these fish is always an inspiration
keep us updated with your new dream pair!

[Quatro]

Alright John! Good for you bro

[CaptNemo]

Hi Copps,
I was wondering if you have a thread for your 180 tank?
Thanks

[copps]

Thanks guys... my wife calls it an obsession... I call it a passion...

CaptNemo, no dedicated thread, although I'll soon start one after I add a few final fish and some new corals...

Thanks,

John

[gasman059]

Originally posted by copps
The resplendens is doing well... I very nervously had to take half of their tank apart last week to catch the resplendens and fisheri. Geneticists in Puerto Rico have studied the DNA from the hybrids that Frank produced and found some very exciting results... something never before seen in fishes... and so they needed exact genetic samples from the parents. I very nervously caught them and snipped a section of their tail fin. Thank God they've recovered... The findings will be written up in a major scientific journal, and when they are I'll post here of course...

Hey Coops that study is it out of Magueyes? La parguera most likely?

Had the opportunity to see the station since I grew up fishing and diving there.

[copps]

Tu creciste alli? Que suertudo... The PhD I'm working with is out of the Mayaguez campus of the University of Puerto Rico...

[gasman059]

LOL John born and raised there. BTW El Colegio is my "alma mater".

Did manage to graduate with a biology major!
Became a dif kind of doc-anesthesiology=gasman

Anyways I'm happy to know the island is still carrying on some research.

Still have a place down there-when and if u do travel there I still have tons of my buddies that can certainly help u out.

[tanglovers]

As always, awesome news! Always look forward to seeing new posts from you John!

[danfrith]

I was wondering when you were going to post. Beautiful fish John, especially those juvenile Joc's.