Callionymus schaapii: Schapp's Dragonet

jayelblock

jayelblock

New member
This oddity showed up in my local big box pet store. Not sure how he got mixed in with the scooter blennies, but I was happy to find him. He doesn't seem thrilled with aquarium life, but I'm going to give him a chance to settle in. His gills are just tiny holes on the dorsal side of his head, and he clearly is meant to spend time buried in the sand. Has anyone kept this fish successfully?


473232800_77b5b61801_o.jpg

photo use with permission from wildsingapore
 
Not sure if I've got my specimen identified correctly. Opinions welcomed.
She's a rather prehistoric-looking creature...

5496012982_fcebab77c6_z.jpg
 
Cool looking fish. Have you gotten him to eat? According to fishbase.org they only get up to 6.6 cm, so that's good.
 
She is eating nicely. I've got a 10g that has been set up for years with tons of rock. It's got big pods in it, plus I'm supplementing with cyclops. I see her picking around, and her weight is good. (I think it's a female b/c most male dragonets have a long, spiked dorsal fin.) Sometimes she swims around in the water column to get to the next area in the tank, and she hovers slowly and uses that rat-like tail as a rudder. It's like watching a helicopter. I'm still rather stunned that she showed up at a big box pet store.
 
That sound so interesting and good to here she'll take foods! In your spare time, a video would be nice. Or even more pics :D
 
Will do. I love watching her. Even though she's adapted for staying buried in the sand, she's out and about most of the day. In the morning when the lights go on, I find her sitting on a rock with sand stuck to the top of her head, so I know she's hunkering down at night.
 
I did look at all this before, but I remain a bit confused.

The flathead has a mouth from ear to ear, which this fish does not. It has the small, pointed mouth.

However, the comparison says the dragonet has a smooth head, and mine definitely has spines over her eyes. Also, her eyes are large like the flathead.

I'd love to hear from someone in Singapore who knows...
 
Did you look at all of these? If it acts like a dragonet, I'd get it probably is a dragonet. They have such a specific manner in they way they swim and go about their business.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm

Anyway I'm just posting because no one who knows more is. Someone who's seen this will come along. Or maybe someone knows of a dragonet or goby expert.
 
Actually, I just remembered that our local big box store orders their fish from Quality Marine. I went to their website and found this: Repomucenus benteguri, Flathead Sand Dragonet

Mystery solved. Now, there's absolutely nothing on the net about this particular fish, although the Repomucenus (aka Callionymidae) family has lots of members.
 
Thanks Gerrit!

How long have you had yours? Is s/he a good eater? Tell me more--these don't seem to be common in the US aquarium trade, so I'd love more information.
 
Uunfortunately not very long. My dragonnet dies 3 month later. I don´t know why.
From begin, he eats brine schrimps, Cyclops, Krill, Mysis, cops, flakes(!). But after 2,5 month he stoped eating anything and dies 2 weeks later. I can not explain that for me.
I would get a new dragonet of them, but they are very rarely importet to Germany.

Here more images and an short husbandry comment from my dragonet:
http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/3229_Anaora_tentaculata.htm

If you could post a comment here, was that very good and interessting for all users.
 
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