Jawfish - who here has them?

[ThRoewer]

I find jawfish to be some of the most interesting and entertaining fish you can have.
Though I don't see many posts about them here.

I have currently 2 pairs an one single:

• A pair of East Pacific Blue Spot Jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) that are in my East Pacific biotope tank.
  
  
• A pair of West Pacific Gold-specs jawfish aka Tiger jawfish (Opistognathus randalli) which are still in quarantine.
  
  
• And finally a single West Pacific Chinstrap jawfish (so far undescribed). I think this one may be a female. Also still in quarantine. This one I found at a LFS and just took it because it looked interesting and was low priced.

I found that they do best in a tank that is geared towards their needs and ideally with no hyperactive fish as tank mates, though the West Pacific jawfish will likely go into ma 40B sump tank for time being.

Pairing jawfish can be tricky since they don't change sex (at least based on my observations and all I could find on the web confirms this as well).

The easiest to sex is the Gold-specs/Tiger jawfish as this species has a fairly clear sexual dichromatism - females have a black spot at the front of their dorsal fin that males don't have:

By now I also figured out how to tell males and females of the Blue Spot Jawfish apart, see here for details: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2570213&page=4
In short: males have a lighter head and front body while females are generally darker. Males are also more slender than females.

Another thing that seems to be different between male and female jawfish is that females seem to be the more active home builders, while the males are far less active in that regard and also seem to like to steal burrows from females. At least my new randallis behave fairly similar to the rosenblattis in that regard.

So who else here had jawfish?

 

[ThRoewer]

Here a video of the new guys:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UdB6LwIAniI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[eastlake]

I'm with you on that one, jawfish are easily some of the most personable fish in either fresh or saltwater. I don't have any right now because I have a breeding pair of allen's damselfish that are occupying the bottom of my 150 and dig as though they were excavators in their former lives. If it wasn't for those two I would absolutely have a group of pearlys as not only are my wifes favorites but I love them too. Its so dang cool the way they'll watch your comings and goings as well as thieving rubble from their neighbors to fortify their own burrows. I think a lot of people see what is suggested for the substrate depth and immediately shy away. By the way, that goby/jawfish/pipefish tank rocks.

 

[eastlake]

oops, and psuedochromis

 

[mike61289]

I had a single Yellowhead Jawfish in my seahorse tank for about 5 years. He was the only non-Syngnathid fish I put in there. He was included to eat any leftover food and he did his job well. Very personable fish and I would keep another one in my reef or my seahorse tank in the future.

 

[d-man]

Love mine, it's a tiger.
My wife hates him cuz she says he's ugly. But he's a hoot for sure. He's dead center and just funny as can be when fish or the medusa cucumber comes near his borrow.

 

[juniorrocketdad]

I would love one I don't want a deep sand bed

 

[ThRoewer]

I would love one I don't want a deep sand bed

You do not necessarily need a deep sand bed, just a pile of sand and gravel in one place so they can build their burrow.

 

[BlackTip]

I love Jawfish, but it is difficult to keep. My first was pearly. Was very happy fish all by herself in 325g. Once I put other fish in there, she abandoned her barrow 3 times, won't come out to eat, and finally went to the overflow twice. She jumped from a very small opening, landed on the glass cover, and died.

Second one was a male Blackcap. The guy was never happy in the QT nor the DT. Any one could tell from observation. I think he was a mature adult, and I knew he would not accept captive life. He was restless and constantly pacing the top of the QT tank looking to escape. After few days in the DT, he disappeared.

I love the fish, but I am afraid to try again.

 

[falconut]

I've had my yellowhead jawfish for a while now. Agreed, he's very cool and out most of the time. He comes right out with the fish at feeding time. He borrows under a large rock.

 

[microlady]

So cool!

 

[ginpang]

Me!me!


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[eastlake]

Awesome pair of perlies!

 

[ReefinND]

I would love to have them, but I only plan on having a 2" sandbed so..no go

 

[ThRoewer]

I would love to have them, but I only plan on having a 2" sandbed so..no go

A 2" sand bed will be more than sufficient if you don't mind that they will likely make a little mount around their burrow.

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[ReefinND]

A 2" sand bed will be more than sufficient if you don't mind that they will likely make a little mount around their burrow.

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Wow really?? They are definitely getting added to the list then. I don't even have my tank yet, and already my list is barely legible with all the additions and revisions!

 

[ThRoewer]

My East Pacific biotope tank I have at the most 2 inches of gravel when spread evenly. Though by now the jawfish have moved it to where they like it (that's a thing you got to live with when you have jawfish). Basically there are now two piles of sand and gravel that are 3 to 4 inches high while there is just a little sand left in the front.

 

[farfromsea]

What are your thoughts on having wrasses with jawfish? I've wanted one for years but recently I've been wanting some wrasses as well and I've read that they may not be the best tankmates for jawfish.

 

[Half Vaped]

What are your thoughts on having wrasses with jawfish? I've wanted one for years but recently I've been wanting some wrasses as well and I've read that they may not be the best tankmates for jawfish.

My Pearly Jawfish gets along well with my Leopard, Flasher and Fairy Wrasses. No problems at all between them.

 

[madweazl]

Love the jawfish, so much personality. The pearly we have was getting very bold until the yellow tang showed up, now it stays in its burrow just peaking out until feeding time (still much less bold than before). The tang has never gone after him, I just dont think he likes how fast the tang moves.

Like others, my sand bed is roughly 2" (probably a little more). The jawfish need a bed with some rubble in it too; they will use this to shore up the entrance and inside of their burrow (they use them as bricks down there like pistol shrimp). If you dont have some rubble, they will find a substitute (which may be your low lying frags that arent anchored down). Definitely one of my favorite fish.