Darwin jawfish.

[Bent]

http://m.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=325359


I've literally never heard of this fish. Any info on it? Not considering buying it, ever given the price. Just curious.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Pretty rare, probably due to size. I mean a foot long jawfish is kind of terrifying. You'd have to have a sand bed so deep there wouldn't be room for water in a normal tank.

 

[joshky]

Pretty rare, probably due to size. I mean a foot long jawfish is kind of terrifying. You'd have to have a sand bed so deep there wouldn't be room for water in a normal tank.

Yeah, I can't see anyone but a public aquarium actually being able to house this fish long-term, I'm sure it needs a 4' sand bed or larger fully grown. Not many people have 48" tall tanks, this one would require at least double that. I'm sure you could get away with a 2' sand bed for a while, maybe its whole life if it doesn't exceed 8"~ in captivity, who knows, still a pretty ridiculous fish to sell.

 

[JoeTSI]

LOL, Minimum Tank Size - 125 Gallons

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Oh we have a member that can house this easily.

Look up Hedgedrew he's got a 20,000 gal tank in his house. Just finishing up building it. There is a thread of his build in the Large Reef Tanks forum. It's painful waiting for them to finish up but it's one hell of a project. It's worth looking for the thread on it.

 

[BlackTip]

I don't know why they capture such large fish from the wild knowing that it is most likely won't survive in captivity. It is upsetting.

 

[joshky]

Oh we have a member that can house this easily.

Look up Hedgedrew he's got a 20,000 gal tank in his house. Just finishing up building it. There is a thread of his build in the Large Reef Tanks forum. It's painful waiting for them to finish up but it's one hell of a project. It's worth looking for the thread on it.

Let me back step there, I know there are a select few who have tanks like this, but that's few and far between. I'm sure people who stock these tanks do not shop at Liveaquaria either, they probably work with wholesalers or divers.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Let me back step there, I know there are a select few who have tanks like this, but that's few and far between. I'm sure people who stock these tanks do not shop at Liveaquaria either, they probably work with wholesalers or divers.

Actually Drew does buy a lot of fish from Live Aquaria and Divers Den. I'm sure he has other sources as well but the people that work there know of him very well.

 

[ThRoewer]

These fish are by now means rare, there is just not much demand for these kind of fish beyond public aquaria. My guess would be that this was some bycatch or someone ordered it and then backed out.

 

[Bent]

It's a cool fish.

 

[ThRoewer]

I find the Harlequin Smiler (Opistognathus eximius) much cooler:

Also from Down Under, but instead of the north it's from the GBR region.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

These fish are by now means rare, there is just not much demand for these kind of fish beyond public aquaria. My guess would be that this was some bycatch or someone ordered it and then backed out.

They are definitely rare in the trade.