FishProfiles.com Message Forums

No zachf92,

We stayed in Montauk. The Aquarium is in Riverhead, the town just before the north and the south fork split. We took a nice 2-ferry-trip over Shelter Island, then along the north fork from Greenport to Riverhead. On the way back we took Rt 27 along the south fork.

The only aquarium fish related place I have seen after Riverhead on the south fork was a pet store in East Hampton, but I didn't go there this year.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Enjoyed the pics LF, though I have far less dark side knowledge than you, so no ID help from me.

Hubby will be getting his 1st marine fish soon & it will be either a clown or a yellow tang. Yellow tang is his favourite.

Cheers
TW

WONDERFUL set of pictures!

Now for the guessing game!

After the sharks, the fishes are (some of the IDs below are guesses):

[1] One of the Jacks (Carangidae) - probably Trachinotus kennedyi, because Trachinotus goodei and Trachinotus bailloni have very conspicuous black edges to the extended anterior dorsal tips, which this fish lacks;

[2] Emperor Snapper, Lutjanus sebae, which will evnetually grow to 90 cm;

[3] Bit of a puzzle, but possibly Lates calcarifer, a marine relative of the Nile Perch;

[4] Yellow form of Arothron nigropunctatus;

[5] and [6] Tetrasomus gibbosus, the Hovercraft Fish;

[7] Possibly Canthigaster janthinoptera, a dwarf marine Puffer that reaches 9 cm;

[8] & [9] you know

[10] Closest match I can find is Amphiprion allardi;

[11] Looks like Pterois antennata to me, but it could also be Pterois miles;

[12] Dendrochirus brachypterus;

[13] Nice large Pterois volitans;

[14] Your Sea Horses are possibly Hippocampus ingens;

[15] The big reef features a Zebrasoma veliferum Sailfin Tang bottom left, a Naso vlamingi bottom right, a huge collection of Pseudanthias squamipinnis Fairy Basslets, and several Paracanthurus hepatus Regal Tangs;

[16] These are not Angelfish, they are Monos - Monodactylus argenteus - and are actually euryhaline fishes that will live in fresh water as well as marine water;

[17] Hmm, odd one this - nearest I can find is Halichoeres melanurus. I'm pretty sure it is a Halichoeres species though ...

[18] & [19] Balistoides conspicillum, the Clown Triggerfish;

[20] Naso breviostris, one of the Unicorn Fishes;

[21] & [22] Looks to me like Zebrasoma desjardinii, the "other" Sailfin Tang, which is an algal grazer;

[23] Ptereleotris evides, which is actually called the Rocket Fish in the UK fish trade;

[24] Looks to me as if it could be Mirolabrichthys pascalus - mouth stucture is that of a Mirolabruchthys species, but it's the wrong colour for M. tuka;

[25] Acanthurus lineatus, a LARGE Surgeonfish!

[26] Possibly Pseudanthias rubrozonatus;

[27] Oh I KNOW this one, it's one of my Wish List fishes - the Royal Empress Angelfish, Pygoplites diacanthus!

[28] This is a Pterocaesio species (these are open water pelagic swimmers), but the only two striped one in the Burgess' Mini-Atlas is Pterocaesio digramma, which is the wrong colour and has two conspicuous black blotches on the tips of the tail like a Scissortail Rasbora ... Pterocaesio lativittata is the right colour but only has one yellow stripe ...

[29] This one has me stumped. It's a Fairy Basslet of some sort, but I've never seen one split vertically like this.

[30] & [31] Heniochus acuminatus, the Wimplefish or Pennant Butterfly Fish.

Hope this list is suitably informative ...



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

yeah, it def. is weird seeing other peoples pictures of your own "home turf" as you put it

again, i'm too lazy to read through and read everybodys IDs now, maybe later if i feel bored...

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Yeah, Ingo Altantis Marine World is in my backyard. I could have brought my camera and we could have had us an old fashioned shootout.

The angelfish? pic that has been already ID as an Mono can actually live in fresh, brackish or salt similiar to the Mollie, but probably does better in brackish/saltwater.

Did they still have that hugh lobster (50lbs or something like that)?

The coralife reef setup I think is one of the largest in any aquarium from what I understand.
The blue fish with the yellow area is a Blue tang mostly know as a Hippo tang and is a staple in the marine hobby along with it's cousin the Yellow tang (shown partially hidden in the reef shot by that fish with the big nose. The yellow tangs look awesome in a large school.



My Scapes

I take it that the fish you refer to as a "Hippo Tang" is the fish I labelled above as Paracanthurus hepatus, known among UK aquarists as the Regal Tang. Way back in the 1970s, graham F. Cox in his landmark book on marine aquarium keeping describled this fish as 'the bluest thing on Earth', and when you see a particularly fine specimen, it's not difficult to understand why!

Given a decent sized aquarium, it's also more likely to be sociable with its own species than members of the Genus Acanthurus, though to keep more than one Regal Tang in an aqurium still requires a lot of space. Given that the species is a fast swimmer and active to begin with, a 90 gallon (in the US) setup is one I would consider a minimum recommendation for one individual, while three or four calls for at least a 180, and preferably some way larger than this.

I've seen multiple Regal Tangs in public aquaria, but in these cases the size of aquarium has been of the order of 2,000 UK gallons, which is getting on for 2,400 US gallons, a size of setup that is probably beyond the reach of mny here!

While it is possible to have multiple specimens of this spceies and the Yellow Tang, Zebrasoma flavescens, in the same aquarium, space permitting (see for example David Saxby's monster aquarium, with eighteen Yellow Tangs in it!), it is unlikely that the same is possible with members of the Genus Acanthurus, despite the fact that some can be seen shoaling in the wild. Remember that in the wild, the water volume available to the fishes is several cubic kilometres, and replicating this in an aquarium involves truly colossal cost, not to mention civil engineering on a scale more normally associated with the construction of a large hydroelectric dam! In the confines of an aquarium, Acanthurus species will exhibit stong territoriality with conspecifics, frequently with lethal consequences, and in the case of Acanthurus sohal, even unrelated fishes may be attacked by a large specimen, because for some reason this spceies develops "irrational hatreds" of aquarium occupants that were formerly accepted peacefully, a behaviour noted by Graham F. Cox in his 1970s book. He owned one of these fishes, which lived peacefully for several years in a large aquarium, then for no apparent reason exterminated an adult Platax teira batfish and a large adult Pomacanthus annularis Angelfish. The characteristic 'slash wounds' inflicted by the surgeonfish's 'scalpel' blades were all over the dead specimens. However, since Acanthurus sohal is a 40 cm fish when adult, it will need huge quarters just by itself, and more space still if attempts to keep it with other large and aggressive fishes are made. This is a candidate for a 'big fish' marine aquarium of huge proportions including hardcore bruisers such as Queen Triggers and the smaller Groupers, with aquarium dimensions to match these robust and chunky fishes!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I take it that the fish you refer to as a "Hippo Tang" is the fish I labelled above as Paracanthurus hepatus, known among UK aquarists as the Regal Tang.

Yes, and I couldn't agree more with the space and behavioral issues you mentioned.

BTW - Here's a pic of the lobster I mentioned that they have or had at the Riverhead Aquarium. This pic was taken about 5 years ago.



Attached Image:


My Scapes

WOW ... that is the M1 Abrams of lobsters!

You say that creature weighs 50 lbs?

Must be getting on for a metre in length ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

it's not the biggest ever or anything, but "the" reef tank's main display is in fact 20,000 gallons, which makes it currently one of the top, i think 4/5 biggest tanks in North America.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

terranova,
Yeah I knew it was one of the biggest if not the biggest.
Actually coming from Planted Aquaria one of my favorite tanks there was this south american display. Is it still there. Sorry darksiders, but it is or was an exhibit at Atlantis Marine World



Attached Image:


My Scapes

Update on the Pterocaseio species ...

Still don't have an exact ID for it, but ... Reefkeeping magazine online have a nice article covering the Family Caesionidae (known as the Fusiliers) to which this fish belongs. Here is the article which should provide some interesting reading for the darksiders, as it's a Family of fishes you don't often see


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

tetratech,

I actually split the pictures into freshwater and saltwater sections, whereby the first group is displayed in the general freshwater forum. And there you will find two shots from the tank that you display above, although your picture looks nicer.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

ohhh the famous red bellied piranhas

my aunt got married at AMW, and my parents table was right in front of that display.

i've been on top of that whole rack of tanks before, with the anenome reef, the african cichlids, the lionfish, and the seaweed/starfish, i forget if anything else is in that "rack"

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I hope that you don't mind if I tag on some more pictures from another aquarium visit. This one is a small aquarium in New Jersey in Point Pleasant Beach called Jenkinson's Beach Aquarium.

I have been there with the wife and kids last weekend, and that means as usual that I had to hurry through the exhibition and couldn't take notes on the fish that I took the shots of.

As such, you are encouraged to guess again

Let's start the show with this guy:

Attached Image:

Grumpy

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Next, I guess this is some form of Puffer Fish, although - what do I know

He was in a larger tank with mostly larger fish.

Attached Image:

Puffer?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

In the same tank was this fish, rather on the small side, I would guess he was maybe 4 to 5 inches long. I like his distinct blue and white markings:

Attached Image:

Little One

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am in love with seahorses, but taking good pictures of them does not seem to be my fortune (at least not when I am rushed, ).

Here is a yellow one. If it would be an Apisto then I would assume it is a female ready to mate:

Attached Image:

Seahorse

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now this was one of the most intriguing fish that I have seen there. Not only does it remind me visually of a penguin, it also swam like one. The fins were flapping exactly like a penguin.

Attached Image:

Penguin?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Next, there was a smaller but long tank with some sharks and other fish.

Here is one of the sharks in that tank:

Attached Image:

Shark I

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is another shark, at least I think it is another species as the markings seem too different from the previous one:

Also in the picture is one of these nose fishies, I forgot their name again although someone for sure mentioned it in one of the earlier entries:

Attached Image:

Shark II

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

With the sharks in the tank was this one. Let me see if I remember that right: this type of fish eats corals, correct?

BTW, the spot on its side is actually a reflection of some light on the glass.

Attached Image:

Coral Eater?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Also in the tank was this fellow, looking somewhat ugly I have to say , at least when it comes to his face. Nevertheless, his coloration is very pretty.

Attached Image:

Some Fish

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I would assume that this fish (in another tank) is a member of the Clown Fish family, correct?

At least he shows the same preferences:

Attached Image:

Clown?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I would have assumed that the following 3 pictures are not really marine, but the second one makes me think otherwise.

But first things first, this one here is most likely some archer fish, hanging just below the surface. It in itself made me believe that this must be a brackish tank.

Attached Image:

Archer

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

... But then, I found this guy in the tank. And I have seen this fish only in marine tanks in the LFS and pet store chains. Does that mean that the archer above is marine, or does it mean that this guy is in the wrong tanks in the stores? Or maybe it means something else.

Attached Image:

Brackish?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

In with these two guys was also this one. He for the life of it did not permit me to take a shot from its side, so frontal it has to be.

Attached Image:

Also Brackish?

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Definately marine was this fish, it was in a different tank though. When I saw him first he was swimming further back and I could have sworn he was green. When he came closer he looked more of a blue. Now, is this simply an effect of the light on the tank?

Attached Image:

Fish

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now on to the last group of photos, they could be labeled as "not for the home tank".

I think I took a shot of this species on my Riverhead tour as well, but I don't remember. He for sure was big:

Attached Image:

Big Fish

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

They also have some bigger sharks in their largest tank, here are two of them resting on the ground:

Attached Image:

Sharks

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And last but not least, Jaws is saying "hello"

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, I will post only 2 more into my fish pictures thread in the general freshwater forum (they didn't have a lot of freshwater fish).

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Jaws

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

2 looks like a web burrfish - it looks hungry, which is said to be the case of this fish, they tend not to do well in captivity.

3 looks like the indigo hamlet

4 Seahorse, maybe Kuda...I'm not great with seahorses.

5 Bird wrasse

8 A trigger fish of some sort. Most all triggers will eat shrimp and other inverts, but some won't bother corals.

10 Tomato or cinnamon clown

11 Archer - brackish

12 Bangaii cardinalfish - This is a marine fish. I'd guess the tank is set at a low marine salinity, the brackish fish would do fine.

13 Scat - another brackish fish

14 Blue Green chromis. Good name right? It's more what angle the light bounces off the fish to your eye that produces either blue or green look. Not really the light on the tank though. At least I'm pretty sure that's how it works.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice pics btw, Ingo. I'm sure you had fun despite having to rush through.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

OK, identification time once more.

[1] Looks to me like a head on shot of a sub adult Microspathodon bairdi,, which is a big Damselfish reaching 20 cm.

[2] looks to me like Chilomycterus shoepfi, which is one of the Porcupine Fishes of the Family Diodontidae.

[3] Probably Hypoplectrus indigo, the Indigo Hamlet. A member of the Family Serranidae, reaching around 15 cm in length.

[4] If that is an extended brood pouch, then that is actually a male Sea Horse - Sea Horses (Family Sygnathidae) are remarkable in that the females deposit their eggs in the male's brood pouch, and the male then becomes 'pregnant'! To identify this to species level though, you will need this page and a LOT of time to devote to such matters as counting trunk and tail rings!

[5] Probably Gomphosus coeruleus, the Birdmouth Wrasse. There is a related species, Gomphosus varius, but that is much lighter in colour.

[6] Pass on that one - cartilaginous fishes aren't a strong point of mine!

[7] The Surgeonfish to the left is Naso unicornis, which at 70 cm in length as an adult, is public aquarium material. The shark, being distinctly marked, is one of the few I stand a chance of identifying - it is probably Triakis semifasciata (listed in the Burgess' Mini-Atlas as Triakis semifasciatus). Here is a photo of the fish at Fishbase. This is a 200 cm fish (i.e., 2 metres) and is a member of the Family Triakidae (Burgess lists it as a member of the Sphrynidae, but that was only valid according to Nelson in 1984 - the Families have since been revised).

[8] Ah, a favourite of mine. Pseudobalistes fuscus, the Jigsaw Triggerfish. At 22 inches in length (55 cm), it's a beast, and needs a 300 gallon aquarium if you're going to attempt to keep it at home. It's also aggressive, should only be kept with other similarly large and aggressive fishes, and it will dismantle your aquascaping and rearrange it to suit itself. Even rockwork that is glued together will be pulled apart by this fish - it has the muscle power to do so, AND the clam-crushing jaws allow it to bite through smaller rocks as well!

[9] Hypsypops rubicundus (mislabelled in Burgess' Mini-Atlas as Hypsypops rubicunda), a BIG Damselfish that reaches 36 cm.

[10] Teak Clownfish, Amphiprion melanopus.

[11] Yes, this IS an Archer Fish, however to tell which species it is, you have to count the dorsal spines - Toxotes jaculator has 4, while the very similar Toxotes chatareus has 5. Both species are 12 inches plus when fully grown, and brackish water fishes inhabiting mangrove swamps comprised of Sonneratia mangrove species.

[12] Pterapogon kauderni, the Banggai Cardinal Fish, probably one of the most easily recognisable of ALL marine aquarium fishes!

[13] Scatophagus argus, the Common Scat - this is the colour morph with additional red sometimes known as the Tiger Scat. This is a fully euryhaline fish, capable of living in fully fresh water, brackish and fully marine water. Prefers brackish water if given a choice when young, moving to fully marine water when adult, and returning to rivers to spawn.

[14] A schooling Damselfish this one - Chromis atripectoralis. Reaches 13 cm.

[15] WOW! If I'm correct, this is the utterly MONSTROUS Epinepholus lanceolatus, better known as the Queensland Grouper. NOT for the home aquarium by any stretch of the imagination, because it reaches thirteen feet in length, and weighs 1,200 pounds when fully grown! Reputed to be capable of swallowing scuba divers when large ...

[16] Those sharks, if they're demesral, may be Grey Nurse Sharks - Ginglymostoma cirratum, Family Orectolobidae. This fish reaches 430 cm in length, or if you prefer Imperial measurements, a little over 14 feet.

[17] Looks like the Sand Tiger, Carcharias taurus. A large Requiem Shark that will attack man in open water. Reaches 320 cm or 10.5 feet in length. Capable of inflicting serious injury if provoked. Sensible people give it a wide berth. Temperament unpredictable. Needless to say, NOT for the home aquarium.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I like those pics

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Great Pics! I'll definitely to have to check it out if I'm ever in that area!

-Josh