Man-o-War Fish

[shcubasteve]

Hello all,

Over the last week, South Florida has been inundated by Man-o-war jellyfish. While scuba diving with a local charter outfit, the captain suggested I catch one of the interesting little fishes swimming just beneath the siphonophore- the so called man-o-war fish- I ended up with two. He assured me he has kept them in captivity and they eat anything you give them. Check out the pictures and you'll see they are a beautiful fish indeed.

So after a little bit in the quarantine tank I put them in the DT... upon waking the next morning and for the last 5 days, I have been unable to locate these elusive fish. I have a mystery on my hands...

So my questions are: has anyone else kept these fish before? Do they hide out for extended periods? my LFS had never seen them before

 

[pimp4cheddar]

I've never seen anything like it...looking to see what others have to say.

How big is the fish? How long was it in the QT?

 

[L98-Z]

Neat fish, for some reason, I think it would get massive.

 

[crvz]

those are pretty neat looking fish. do you have a scientific name or any more information about them?

 

[pimp4cheddar]

google is amazing - Nomeus Gronovii

 

[olemiss reb]

do you have a scientific name or any more information about them?

Nomeus gronovii, They live in the man o war tentacles and can get up to 15". Generally when a fish is not common in the hobby there is a reason, it needs a man of war to live in.

 

[RcToners]

I've seen articles saying that they can not be kept in captivity because they feed on the gonads of the man-o-war. I caught one the other day in my canal and had it in my biocube for a couple hours. I felt bad for him so I put him back in the canal with a man-o-war. They're absolutely gorgeous but it's unlikely that they will live. From the research I've done, you're not the only one who has had one disappear. They're likely jumpers or just simply die and disappear in your rockwork.

 

[Leviathan_XE]

Nomeus gronovii

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=2461

 

[crvz]

I caught one the other day in my canal and had it in my biocube for a couple hours. I felt bad for him so I put him back in the canal with a man-o-war.

I understand your reasoning, but note that it is illegal to reintroduce livestock to the wild after it's been in captivity such as in your case. There's a risk of introducing no-native pathogens or other problems. Consider the current lionfish invasion in the atlantic ocean for a recent example.