New Fish.....Epibulus insidiator

M.Dandaneau · #1 03/21/2004, 08:31 PM

Hey gang.....thanks to marrone and his post about the Napoleon wrasse, I've gotten really curious, which, for me, can be dangerous.
We went down to our favorite LFS where they had two beautiful Broom-tails, but they were a little too large for my wallet

, so it was a toss up between some juvenile red-breasted wrasses and the one we (OK, I) finally settled on, a beautiful little Sling jaw wrasse about 3 1/2" long.

Has anyone here ever kept one before?
Internet searches indicate they are primarily crustacean specialists, so we're already planning on an outing tomorrow to pick up 50 or 60 marine ghost shrimp to get her settled in, but any other first hand info would be appreciated (photos of adult males are simply beautiful!)
Thanks,
Mike

jwm2k3 · #2 03/22/2004, 09:23 AM

Awesome! What have you found out about them? How big do they get? Etc...

John

M.Dandaneau · #3 03/22/2004, 11:34 AM

Actually, I've found out quite a lot, just nothing pertaining to aquarium care per se.
Apparently they reach about 14", but their mouth extends into a feeding tube, according to the net, the most protrusible in the fish world (like a freshwater leaffish), which would indicate small (relative to the size, of course) shrimp, crustaceans, etc.
They also either come in two color forms, or the females are yellow and the males dark (reports seem to vary on the opinion) with the adults being awesome fish in either case (photo attached).

I've seen then for sale, always juvenile, rarely in the past but always held off until now (again...I hand full blame to marrone

) and never talked to anyone who purchased one.

So far, it seems to be entirely unaggressive to shy, but likewise shows no interest in normal aquarium fare (flake, frozen shrimp or squid), thus the collecting trip today......our experience with local "live food only" species over the past few years has been such that I think (hope) I can keep it alive, no matter what, but was hoping I'd receive an "Oh, they're really easy fish to keep" report from someone (no such luck so far

)

The last "oddity" we picked up, the Novaculichthys macrolepidotus, the Seaweed or green Dragon wrasse has turned out to be the shyest, slowest growing wrasse that I've ever kept, still amazingly skittish but feeding and growing well none the less.

The little Maori wrasse has likewise turned out to be very peaceful, if a tad shy, so I'm experiencing a whole new realm of behavior from the wrasse world......see, an old dog CAN learn new tricks!

Mike

marrone · #4 03/22/2004, 04:39 PM

Hey Mike

Nice to know that I can alway help someone add to their tank.

It's like when someone comes over my places and see my large tanks they just need to go out and get a bigger tank.

I see the Sling jaw wrasse alot here in NYC most of time they're about 6"- 8" and seem to be shy and hides alot. They come in different colors, yellow and dark red, and both have checker marks on their body. Also the lower jaw "sling" out to grab food.

I think I would have gotten the Red Breast Wrasse instead but hey why don't you pick it too.

I just added a Oxycheilinus bimaculatus wrasse to my tank. They're very small only get about 4" or so.

Also by my a LFS has a Oxycheilinus digrammus. abput 8", which is really beauiful and only gets about 14" - 16". Thinking about getting it as my Aust Tusk died, it lost it top teeth and part of it mouth fighting over food. It couldn't eat for 3 weeks and for 2 it couldn't flex it's mouth. Really nothing I could do but watch it died.

Michael

M.Dandaneau · #5 03/22/2004, 09:22 PM

Sorry to hear about your tusk Michael.....I've "been there/done that" often enough to be very familiar with the helpless feeling, and while euthenasia sounds like the obvious kind thing to do, I've had just enough "miracle recoveries" to make it an absolute last step.

I decided against the Redbreast (for now) because I'm thinking there might be a compatability issue between it and my large Dragon wrasse....the facial similarity, combined with very close habits makes me suspect it's a very strong possibility.

I was also concerned about adding the Slingjaw as we have the small Maori wrasse in the tank it would have to go in as well, but this proved unfounded and they ignore each other.

Just before our collecting trip today, the little Slingjaw snapped up a small piece of raw shrimp, and as I suspected, it needs surprisingly small food and a peaceful tank before it will come out and eat...in other words, after everything else is full.

We brought back several hundred small feeders in the 1/2" to 1" range, which the Slingjaw ignored (not so the Dwarf lionfish, the Lookdown, Hamlet, Sea bream and Maori wrasse), but when we added a hundred or so small ghost shrimp, it's whole demeanor changed and it was immediately out in the open popping them off the LR like there was no tomorrow.....feeding problem solved.

As to my new temporary fixation....thanks Michael!

Oh....they had a little (2") twinspot as well, but it's so similar to the little mentalis I'm almost sure there'd be a conflict there....ever kept the two together?

Mike

marrone · #6 03/23/2004, 11:53 AM

Mike

I only had one other Two-spot wrasse and it jumped out of the tank after just a short while. They're pretty rare up here in NYC and you don't usally see them that much. Actually this guy was in the LFS since before x-mas and I keep saying that if he was there the next time I come by I'll take him home and about 2 weeks ago finally did. I'm just about to place him in my 260 which contain a Saddle back hogfish, which is larger than him. Hopefully there would be any problems. I never had a problem with the Saddle back and my Tusk but the Tusk was 9" or so and the Saddle back about half the size.

It's funny with some of these large hogs that they so non-aggressive and are easly push around by other fish, wether it's for food or just a hiding space in the tank.

I'm actually trying to get a small Red Breast Wrasse, about 2"- 4" from someone but it's taking awhile.

Michael

Michael

M.Dandaneau · #7 03/23/2004, 07:11 PM

Sorry it's taking so long for the Redbreast....they had at least half a dozen in the 2"-4" range for $49.99.

The Slingjaw and the Mentalis, by the way, are getting along famously......my concern with the Redbreast was that the Dragon wrasse would be FAR more aggressive, to the point a fatality would be assured and definitely NOT the Dragon wrasse.

Mike

marrone · #8 03/23/2004, 09:10 PM

Mike

Are they willing to ship? I'm having trouble getting one.

Michael

M.Dandaneau · #9 03/23/2004, 11:09 PM

Michael
e-mail me at mdandane@tampabay.rr.com...if you want, send me a phone # and I'll give you a call.

Sorry to hear about your twinspot jumping..........I've noticed the mentalis also stays to the top ( in a 6', 125 gal. tank with 7 other small fish, all in the 3"-4" category and LOTS of LR, probably 150 lbs, at least), even though there's nothing in the tank to bother it, and suspect juveniles probably live in shallow grass flats based on this behavior.

Mike