First Oarfish Trachipterus trachypterus Seen Alive Enters The Trade: Yea or Nay?

[The Reef Expert]

One of the first ever oarfish ever seen alive was taken into captivity destined for a high price tag in the marine aquarium industry, it passed away roughly ten hours later when it was being acclimated at the LFS Yadokari-ka.

http://glassbox-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Trachipterus-trachypterus.jpg

http://glassbox-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Trachipterus-trachypterus-ribbon-fish.jpg

http://glassbox-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/oarfish.jpg

http://glassbox-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Trachipterus-trachypterus-oarfish.jpg

Read the full article here

Yea or Nay?

EDIT: And we thought only b-box and blue harbor had the dough to reel in those kind of fish. But an LFS?

 

[balto777]

The article does not state that they are endangered, so . . . yeah. But it is doubtful it will ever be able to be raises in captivity because it is a strickly deepwater fish. The fish was probably on its way out when it was collected since it was found in shallow water.

 

[Ryno368]

beautiful fish but not sure it will stay alive in an aquarium what do they eat?

 

[Ryno368]

"The body of the fish is long, silver and flat, with distinctive dots on the side. The dosal fin is bright pink and extends all the way to the tail. The fish was only 20 cm long but these species can grow up to 3 meters.

The interesting thing about it is that it lives usually at a depth of 500 m, so being on the surface of Lumbarda's waters, makes this fish disorientated due to changes in light and pressure."

http://www.korculainfo.com/blog/index.php/trachipterus-trachypterus-unusual-fish-found-in-waters-of-lumbarda/

 

[The Reef Expert]

It does have pretty fins. They would probably eat prawns and mysis.

 

[NaClCrocodile]

It's really cool but the article states that when they wash up or are found near the surface, they're usually close to death and won't last much longer if they're not already dead. Awesome fish though.

 

[AquaKnight]

What are we yay or nay 'ing? Whether a dying fish should have been left to do so in the ocean, or if collecting it and observing it for the moments they did, was fine?

 

[The Reef Expert]

Yea or nay should they have captured it, yea or nay should they try and collect more... etc.

 

[Romewhip]

Nay- this is a species that should not be collected, even when accessible. It'd be virtually impossible to accomodate even a juvenile, let alone an adult.

 

[The Reef Expert]

+1
My thoughts are nay.
Look at how big they get! Oarfish primer alert! also

http://www.discoverfishingbc.ca/files/images/Oarfish.jpg[/URL]http://www.discoverfishingbc.ca/files/images/Oarfish.jpg

http://www.aphids.com/stan/blog/images/seamonster.jpg

http://www.islasanmarcos.com/oarfishdockhor_03.jpg

 

[AquaKnight]

Sure, err yay.... As mentioned, Oarfish that are near the surface are on death's doorstep. I think results for the next shallow-water-Oarfish attempted, are gonna be the same. I really don't think they are going to start collecting 500m Oarfish. I don't see the harm in collecting a dying fish.

In the case I'm wrong and these shallow-water Oarfish are viable, it's still a yay. We didn't learn how to keep SPS or angelfish, or etc, with many losses at first.

 

[velvetelvis]

Nay. Even if the decompression and husbandry issues could be overcome, look at the size of the adult! IMO, this one is a no-brainer.

 

[zachfishman]

Yeah, we um, know nothing about their biology. and they get a little too big for most aquaria.

 

[NaClCrocodile]

No way. It's like keeping a giant squid in an aquarium. It's just too big and we can't replicate it's natural habitat. Very cool fish, but one that should stay in the sea.

 

[anbosu]

Yeah they get a lot bigger than 3m too. I saw a pic years ago with some Navy guys holding one that looked to be 10m or so.

 

[mjoener]

Yea 3m looks like a little on the small side! the one in the picture with the men in the hard hats looks to be at least 7-8m!

 

[The Reef Expert]

Here's the species of ribbonfish:

FishBase reports ten species in three genera:
Genus Desmodema
Whiptail ribbonfish, Desmodema lorum Rosenblatt & Butler, 1977.
Polka-dot ribbonfish, Desmodema polystictum (Ogilby, 1898).
Genus Trachipterus
King-of-the-salmon, Trachipterus altivelis Kner, 1859.
Deal fish, Trachipterus arcticus (Brünnich, 1771).
Tapertail ribbonfish, Trachipterus fukuzakii Fitch, 1964.
Earthquake fish, Trachipterus ishikawae Jordan & Snyder, 1901.
Dealfish, Trachipterus jacksonensis (Ramsay, 1881).
Ribbon fish, Trachipterus trachypterus (Gmelin, 1789).
Ribbon fish, Trachipterus trachypterus
Genus Zu
Scalloped ribbonfish, Zu cristatus (Bonelli, 1819).
Taper-tail ribbonfish, Zu elongatus Heemstra & Kannemeyer, 1984.

 

[The Reef Expert]

http://fishingartworks.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/opah_fish_strange.jpg

OPAH! Coolio!

PS, not Oprah

 

[The Reef Expert]

You have to admit that having that baby oarfish in your tank would be tantalizing! It has flowing fins and a beautiful metallic body!

 

[michael_cb_125]

I actually caught an oarfish while deepsea fishing about two years ago. I reeled it in very slowly for about 6 hrs, from 1,298.5 feet. Once at the surface I put it in a specimen container (a big one). I acclimated it to my display tank (a big one) and to this day, it is thriving on fried chicken, whoppers and the occasional chocolate covered cherry.

I would say that he is about 47' now.

Great fish with a great personality, but I feel as though I will have to upgrade my system soon as he is getting cramps from being curled up in a 10,000 gallon tank.

~Michael