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Welcome to the second Rare Fish of the Week! I'm pleased to bring you another unusual fish. It's not the most awfully rare or expensive fish out there, but if you're a penny pincher out for oddballs then this is a fish for you!

RFotW #2 -- Anableps anableps -- Four-Eyed Fish




Yes, like said, the Four-Eyed Fish is not an extraordinarily rare fish. I just got mine for $8 each! This is another brackish fish, though again freshwater, though not ideal, is an okay environment for the fish. However, it would be best to keep this fish in brackish water.

Though this fish isn't the rarest or most unusual of all fishes, it most certainly is one of the most unusual livebearers. Cool, eh? Yeah, these fish are livebearers, and sexed with gonopodiums like the livebearers we know and love. However, if you're gonna try and breed them, there's a small obstacle... The Four-Eyed Fish has this weird thing where they can only give or receive sperm to one side... That means you must have two Anableps, one male that gives sperm to one direction and one female that receives sperm from the other. Yeah, they mate side to side, apparently. :%)

Why the four eyes?! Well, the fish actually only has two eyes, but they're divided for looking above and underwater. It's eye structure is actually quite the biological invention. As an insectivore, it benefits from being able to see its prey above water (in fact, it'll jump for them, so keep the tank covered!). Also, it benefits from being able to see predators possibly coming from below. For more info about how the eye works, visit the "4eye.html" link below.

This fish spends almost all of its time skimming the surface of the water, diving down only when something above threatens them. Because of this, you don't really need a deep tank at all. In fact, IMO, it's best to not fill the tank all the way up for these guys (interestingly enough, this means you could keep it with archerfish and mudskippers, as long as they don't eat or bully each other). BTW, the mongabay link down there is incorrect when it says they come out of the water; they must've been thinking mudskippers...

This fish will grow about 12", though I haven't seen one that big (then again, the ones that I bought today were the first I've seen in person in my entire life!); however, these 12" fish should be kept in a group. A 55 gallon should be good for these relatively skinny and bendy fish, as they're not really like those Bala Sharks at all.

My Four-Eyed Fish fed moments after being poured out of the bag; they enjoy the Hikari floating carnivore pellets very much. Insects will make a fine treat for them, but they're obviously not necessary at all.

Links:

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=7379&genusname=Anableps&speciesname=anableps

http://ebiomedia.com/gall/eyes/4eye.html

http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Anableps_anableps.html

http://www.fishprofiles.com/articles/general/brackish/

Previous Rare Fishes:
1. Polynemus paradiseus -- Paradise threadfin[/font][/font]

[span class="edited"][Edited by Shinigami 2004-09-05 22:24][/span]

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I have heard of them . They also reportedly only breed on one side. So a male anableps is either left or right umm..... handed i guess i could say . As are fms, so just cause you got males and females doen't mean they will breed. But good luck.

Err, Matt, Shini said that. Did you read the entire thing?

Anyways, really cool fish.

---

They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

They are indeed an incredible fish and one of the bracks that I have not had an opportunity to own yet.

Did you mean to say "however, it would be best to keep them in brackish water"?

Yeah, thanks, I noticed that when I read it over again...:%)

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Ummmm....... I kinda didn't read it all, sorry shinigami. I just remembered that about them and i didn't want to forget it. But it is a very good article, you might try makin it a profile. If you want of course .
Good Luck

I fell in love with Anableps ssp. after first seeing them in a local public aquarium hen I was three or four. LFSes around here carry them occasionally, and one local chap has been spawning them intermittantly over the past 5 years.

They're very cool - out LFS has them in on a very regular basis, and they're fun as anything to watch - and feed crickets to!

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

Now I know what everybodys' favorite brackish fish is!

w00t