Ctenochaetus cf. striatus - pics?

[jenjen]

I got a small tang recently that was sold to me as Ctenochaetus cf. striatus. I'm having a hard time finding pics to compare it to in order to verify that's actually what it is. I'm trying to get a decent pic of it and when I do I'll post it, but in the meantime does anyone know a decent source of accurate pics?

It doesn't look a lot like the pic on live aquaria which is why I'm doubting, but it is very young (2 inch) and could be juvenile colours.

The body is dark grey with very faint horizontal lines or lines of closely placed spots. It has the blue dot at the top of the base of the tail but the tail is quite white compared to the body. It has a thin bright blue outline on all fins but not around the eye. Shape is similar to tomini with slightly elongated tail. Definitely a bristle tooth.

Any help is appreciated. I'll get a pic up when I can.

 

[OrionN]

Fishbase.org

 

[Reef908]

I had one that I eventually rehomed but as a juvenile it is blue with orange stripes. As an adult it is tan with extremely muted stripes that are basically the same color as the body. Like the chevron it goes through a pretty extreme color change when it becomes an adult....

 

[nereefpat]

John Randall's "Seurgonfishes of Hawaii and the World" is the best (only?) tang book. Get a pic, and we'll ID him.

 

[Reef908]

And let me clarify when I say stripes. It more or less has a similar pattern or striations of the Kole Tang...

And I agree, get a good pic and someone on here will probably identify it quickly to confirm what your research shows.

 

[jenjen]

This is the best pic I've gotten of him so far. He has faint striations similar pattern to a kole tang in slightly lighter than his body colour and he has a blue outline on his fins. He doesn't look like any pic of striated tang that I've found so far.



I'll keep trying for a better pic. He's afraid of the camera and tripod and will only come by when I can sneak up with the cell phone.

 

[nereefpat]

Thanks for the pic. Fortunately, there's only so many Ctenochaetus spp. and many are yellow as juvis. I would say it's C. binotatus, but it could be C. striatus.

Keep the pics coming

Edit: how many lateral lines? About 8 or too many to count?

 

[jenjen]

Thanks for the reply. Looking at pics of c. Binotatus I'd guess that's more likely but obviously I have no idea. The white tail is throwing me off as I'm not finding many pics with that.

Definitely more lateral likes than can be counted. Much like kole.

The coloration is very subtle. I don't know that I'll get a good pic of it even with the good camera. But still trying.

 

[jenjen]

Have seen 2 distinct colour changes this evening.

When he was in a cave picking at the rock (presumably calm) he turned all the dark grey/blue colour. Tail also, with no distinct lateral lines.

When posturing with another fish he turned a fairly light tan main colour, tail as well. Lateral lines stayed the light grey/blue and we're quite distinct.

I guess my main concern is whether it will stay small enough for my tank. Judging by the options of what he may be I'm probably ok, but would still like to confirm!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Search on rc reveals info

Search on rc reveals info

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1163268&highlight=striatus

 

[jenjen]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1163268&highlight=striatus

Thank you! I must have misspelled when I searched RC.

My fish definitely doesn't look like the pics in this thread, but I'm thinking if I wait a bit until it's got more adult colouring it may be easier to identify. I'm not finding many pics with juvenile colouring to compare.

 

[OrionN]

Here is a picture of the juvenile I found on Fishbase.org

 

[jenjen]

Wow I definitely need to get better at searching!

The coloration on mine looks just like that, except mine has a white tail and does not have the prominent orange spots on his face. Face spots match the rest of the body colour. The blue outline on the fins is the same.

 

[nereefpat]

If it's a striatus, that makes it the biggest Ctenochaetus besides the Chevron. Still will have plenty of room in your 180

 

[OrionN]

This is a White tail tang juvenile.

 

[jenjen]

Thank you for all the responses! So far my fish looks like a combination of all the pics. His markings look most like the white tail posted just above, but not the same colours.

He's not afraid of the tripod anymore but even with the good camera I'm not having any luck getting a good pic that accurately shows his colour. Still trying.