Pirate Captain
New member
Hi all
I am a graduate student at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology and am finalizing a research proposal to investigate both the life cycle and possible aquaculture of various exotic Hawaiian fish of ornamental interest. I was a member of the boards here a few years back and thought this would be a good place to gather some info (couldn't find my old login id and password).
I am looking for either direct or anecdotal evidence of courtship behavior, spawning, or egg laying of any of the following fish in captive systems.
Cirrhilabrus jordani Flame Wrasse
Centropyge interrupta Japanese Angelfish
Genicanthus personatus Masked Angelfish
Liopropoma aurora Sunrise Basslet
Pseudanthias hawaiiensis Hawaiian Longfin Anthias
Chaetodon tinkeri Tinker's Butteflyfish
Bodianus sanguineus Sunrise Wrasse
Xanthichthys mento Crosshatch Triggerfish
Ostracion whitleyi Whitley's Boxfish
Ostracion melegris Spotted Boxfish
Gymnothorax meleagris Whitemouth Moray
Gymnothorax nudivomer Yellowmouth Moray
Enchelycore pardalis Hawaiian Dragon Moray
There is limited research on many of these genera and so in some cases the reproductive biology and behavior is unknown. So it would also be useful if anyone has evidence (even if it is anecdotal) of captive spawning in the above genera (excluding Centropyge which has been researched).
I am looking for the following specifics if available: courtship behavior seen in captivity, spawning or laying of eggs, egg sizes, egg numbers, time between spawns if there were multiple spawns, and haremic or not. All that would be a best case scenario, if all you have is that you heard some guy in Utah or Japan had some spawn, that is a start also.
If everything works out wonderfully we would like to see some of these fish make it to an aquaculture facility to be used in the ornamental trade. At the very least we would like to learn more about the life-cycle of one or more of the above fish. Successful aquaculture of these fish could help establish a facility that would help relieve collecting pressure from Hawaii's reefs as well as supply funding for the breeding of other more "bread-and-butter fish". All of the above fish currently retail for over $100 dollars with some hitting close to $1500, generally because of difficulty in collection such as depth. Many of the fish currently been reared for ornamental sales can still be undercut by wild collectors, we hope to reverse that as well as possibly funding breeding of fish that currently lose money in aquaculture (i.e. the yellow tang). We are currently focusing on Hawiian fish, but may branch out to other rare or deep-water ornamentals in the future depending on our success. You have to shoot for the stars, right
I double posted this topic in the fish breeding forum, as I wasn't sure which would be the best place. I apologize if I shouldn't have.
I am a graduate student at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology and am finalizing a research proposal to investigate both the life cycle and possible aquaculture of various exotic Hawaiian fish of ornamental interest. I was a member of the boards here a few years back and thought this would be a good place to gather some info (couldn't find my old login id and password).
I am looking for either direct or anecdotal evidence of courtship behavior, spawning, or egg laying of any of the following fish in captive systems.
Cirrhilabrus jordani Flame Wrasse
Centropyge interrupta Japanese Angelfish
Genicanthus personatus Masked Angelfish
Liopropoma aurora Sunrise Basslet
Pseudanthias hawaiiensis Hawaiian Longfin Anthias
Chaetodon tinkeri Tinker's Butteflyfish
Bodianus sanguineus Sunrise Wrasse
Xanthichthys mento Crosshatch Triggerfish
Ostracion whitleyi Whitley's Boxfish
Ostracion melegris Spotted Boxfish
Gymnothorax meleagris Whitemouth Moray
Gymnothorax nudivomer Yellowmouth Moray
Enchelycore pardalis Hawaiian Dragon Moray
There is limited research on many of these genera and so in some cases the reproductive biology and behavior is unknown. So it would also be useful if anyone has evidence (even if it is anecdotal) of captive spawning in the above genera (excluding Centropyge which has been researched).
I am looking for the following specifics if available: courtship behavior seen in captivity, spawning or laying of eggs, egg sizes, egg numbers, time between spawns if there were multiple spawns, and haremic or not. All that would be a best case scenario, if all you have is that you heard some guy in Utah or Japan had some spawn, that is a start also.
If everything works out wonderfully we would like to see some of these fish make it to an aquaculture facility to be used in the ornamental trade. At the very least we would like to learn more about the life-cycle of one or more of the above fish. Successful aquaculture of these fish could help establish a facility that would help relieve collecting pressure from Hawaii's reefs as well as supply funding for the breeding of other more "bread-and-butter fish". All of the above fish currently retail for over $100 dollars with some hitting close to $1500, generally because of difficulty in collection such as depth. Many of the fish currently been reared for ornamental sales can still be undercut by wild collectors, we hope to reverse that as well as possibly funding breeding of fish that currently lose money in aquaculture (i.e. the yellow tang). We are currently focusing on Hawiian fish, but may branch out to other rare or deep-water ornamentals in the future depending on our success. You have to shoot for the stars, right
I double posted this topic in the fish breeding forum, as I wasn't sure which would be the best place. I apologize if I shouldn't have.
