The Frogfish Files

[reefD]

Originally posted by Reefcherie
................. He's also developed one hot orangish-pink spot on his front dorsal spine region!

sounds like a mimic of coraline. do you have coraline spots on the glass of the tank he/she is in? regardless thats awsome!

[Reefcherie]

Originally posted by reefD
sounds like a mimic of coraline. do you have coraline spots on the glass of the tank he/she is in? regardless thats awsome!

Yes, for some reason the coralline grows like crazy in his refugium home. The entire back wall and the bare floor of the 40-gallon tank are completely covered in redish/purple coralline.

[reefD]

thats what i thought! very very nice! hopfully he is adapting to this shade of camoflauge (spelling off. i suck.lol) and will become a nice shade of coloration in the long run! keep me updated! he could end up an unreal coloration! awsome!

[uberfugu]

I've been raising Histiophryne frogfishes because of their unique weirdness and their rather large and well developed eggs/fry. The problem is that Histiophrynes are rarely seen in the trade and they seem very delicate and prone to infection. I've had problems with them succumbing to Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium and have had a few DOAs.

I lost one of my latest pair but it's mate just laid an egg mass. Histiophrynes carry their eggs in a pouch formed by holding their tail close to the body. This girl just abandoned the mass so I think it is infertile.

The eggs are large (3 mm dia). The pic is a little blurry because my P&S camera doesn't allow for manual focusing.

I need to find another male for this female. She shares a tank with a patterned Histiophryne that Dr. Peitsch also ID'd as H. cryptacanthus. They don't interact however.

[Wee Man]

wow, those are some awesome frogs. the one in the last picture is to die for! good luck finding a mate.

[Reefcherie]

Originally posted by uberfugu
I've been raising Histiophryne frogfishes because of their unique weirdness and their rather large and well developed eggs/fry.

That's awesome! What is the longest time you've been able to keep the fry thus far? What do you feed the fry?

[uberfugu]

Originally posted by Reefcherie
That's awesome! What is the longest time you've been able to keep the fry thus far? What do you feed the fry?

I haven't had a viable Histiophryne clutch yet. I'm pretty sure this batch is also infertile as the male died two weeks before the female laid eggs (eggs are externally fertilized). I've had captive success hatching Antennarius striatus and multiocellatus egg rafts but the fry haven't lasted beyond yolk sac stage. Antennarius eggs and fry number into the thousands and are very small, and, at a young age, display their ravenous and cannibalistic personalities.

Both Genera Histiophryne and Lophiocharon have fewer young which are individually larger and more developed; chances for captive raising success is much higher for these frogfishes.

While I do like weird froggies like the Antennatus and Histiophryne, they are extremely cryptic and inactive, not really a display-type of fish. They are disease-prone and I spend as much time on their maintenance as I do my reef.

I moved the egg-mass a little closer. Here are a couple more pics:

[Reefcherie]

Beautiful photos! Best of luck finding a new male and with your attempts to breed and rear these young. I don't know of anyone else making the attempt for any frogfish species.

[kpk]

I just got me about a 1" zebra for a 37c. I was wondering if I could maybe keep a stonefish maybe, or a goose scorpion (rhino), and or maybe a small radiata?

Do any of you have tank mates with them?

Kyle

[reefD]

hey kpk you just got a zebra frog fish? common names are very subjective. do you know what type of angler it is? zebra? can you post a picture to be sure? i have heard of striated anglers being called zebras...also shaggie anlgers, sargassum..all called zebras in the trade/ commercial. is he a true zebra?

[Wee Man]

By "Zebra" im assuming he means A. striatus but A. hispidus could also be an option. Whatever type of frogfish it is, it's probably not a good idea to house it with another fish. Although some people have luck with keeping frogs with other fish, most don't. Frogs have the amazing ability to ingest prey items larger than themselves, unfortunately they have problems digesting such large meals. Usually once a specimen ingests such a large meal it dies after a few days. However at 1" in length I would be worried of the opposite scenario. All of the tankmates that you listed are predatory fish and would have no problem ingesting such a small fish.

Whatever the case, im going to reccomend keeping the frog by itself for now. Ideally I would even reccomend a smaller aquarium. It is sometimes difficult to care for such a small frog in a cage as large as 37 gallons, and to have only one fish in a 37 kind of sounds like a waste of an aquarium if you ask me. For a 1" frog a 5 or 10 gallon tank would be sufficient.

Ryan

[zemuron114]

how much do bright yellow frogfish (commerson 1" big) go for?

[reefD]

depends but can go for a buck...like 75$ in upstate new york. the issue here is the coloration. if its bright the lfs puts a higher price. ok i wouldnt say a 37 gallon is too big but when it comes to feeding a one inch specimen this is difficult. again my concern is excess nutrients. if you are confident with your filtration then anything is posiible.

[kpk]

Sorry yes it is a striated angler. I have decided to keep it in my round about 15g refugium on my main tank and put the carpet anemone and 2 saddle clowns in the 37.

The frog is doing great just sits in his little cage in the fuge until the 37 can be complete to let him go in his new home. I will get pics asap...

Kyle

[Fishy1]

Pic of my new angler Charlie.......Hope I can remember how to do this!

[kpk]

Nice one Fishy he looks ****ed haha they all do i guess. Would you wanna trade some of those red zoos for blues?

Kyle

[Reefcherie]

Charlie looks a lot like some sponge I used to have under rocks in darker areas of the tank! Do you think you've identified which species he is?

[kpk]

Here's my striated angler. He is being held in a beta breeder until my other tank is cycled for the carpet and 2 saddlebacks in the fuge of my main tank.

He's even throughing his bait out.

[Fishy1]

Pretty sure Charlie is another painted frog.......like Dudley and Ollie before him He's growing and it's fun to watch......he's got reddish saddleing and red toenails too.....what a hoot!

The red zoos on the page are more of a red/orange with yellow skirt......may be in line for a trade when the weather gets warmer

Janey

[reefD]

sure he is striated? describe his lure? this is an easy way to be sure. im thinking it a shaggy angler (hispidus sp.)

[reefD]

if the lure looks like cotton white growth its a shaggy angler striated have a different lure.

[kpk]

His lure extends about 3/4" and looks like 2 curley hairs kinda with a brown ball in the middle.

U could be right.

[reefD]

single hairs? not grouped right? if so the it is a striated if it looks like a bunch of hairs almost like a pom pom then its a shaggy angler.

[reefD]

check this out
http://www.starfish.ch/frogfish/spec...-hispidus.html

[kpk]

No it is two hairs and a ball in the middle. It is for sure a striated. Thanks for the id. I will get better pics when I get my good cam fixed...