MONSTER longnose hawkfish

[brett559]

I went to my LFS over the weekend, and I noticed some bags floating in some of his tanks. He said he was breaking down a 15-year old tank - his client was moving. There was a royal gramma that was at least 4 inches long, and fat as can be.

And then I saw it.

I couldn't believe the size of this longnose hawkfish. It was 6-7 inches at least! Maybe bigger. I mean it was freaking HUGE! He said it was about 12 years old. I imagined the havoc it would wreak on clownfish, shrimp, small wrasses, kittens, puppies, etc.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of it. I'm hoping to go back later in the week. I'll post a pic if I can get one.

You never see these fish even approaching their "wild" size in aquariums. This had to have been close.

 

[nereefpat]

Nice. Gimme that pic!

It's good to hear that not all fish that go back to LFS are because of unfortunate circumstance.

 

[Nina51]

one of my all time favorite fish. hope you can get a picture! i would be tempted to set up a tank just for him!

 

[Reef Frog]

I saw a giant chalk bass last year at LFS. Possibly a foot long. Didn't get a pic either unfortunately. And LA lists maximum size as 3 inches. LA's quick facts have lots of errors btw.

 

[MIKE NY]

....most likely a grouper that size, many have simular coloration. I do agree with you about the max size of 3" since I had a breeding pair that were at least 5"...

 

[Moort82]

The refractive index of water is 4/3 that of air so fish look bigger. Take them out and they won't.

Its also not uncommon to find larger individuals of a particular species. A powder blue tang normally doesn't get much longer than 20cm but the longest specimen found according to fishbase is 54cm http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=1257&AT=powder+blue+tang

 

[brett559]

Its also not uncommon to find larger individuals of a particular species.

Makes sense to me....

 

[Reef Frog]

I'm certain the fish I saw was a chalk bass. Exact same pattern & coloration of the little guys we see all the time. Still had that pronounced blue iridescent patches.

The LFS owner agreed. It was from a tank tear down & the owner bought it from the same store. I understand about the optical nature of water and I'm telling ya this thing was freakishly huge.

Interesting about the size variations in nature. I know gigantivism & dwarfish exist in many higher order animals, but never thought about in fish. Now if we could only find some dwarf yellow tangs all those folks with 40g breeders & 55g tanks would be really happy.

 

[jbvdhp]

Makes sense to me....

LOL


Sent using your IP address

 

[Cliving1]

Please get a picture if possible! Mine is approx 3 inches and my favorite fish. Agree with Nina 100%

 

[brett559]

Someone must have bought it... It wasn't there anymore.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Ok, you made me go try to measure my flame hawk, that I have had for 17 years. S/he is 3" max. Until 2 years ago it was in a 30g, now in a 75g, but I haven't noticed growth since the move. So they are not like the proverbial goldfish that will keep growing as long as they fit in the tank.

I have been contemplating a long nose togo in the old 30g thst currently only has a valentini puffer. I am rethinking that after reading this post.

 

[hossa81]

My lfs has a 5-6 inch chalk bass and the thing is fat!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Potatohead]

Makes sense to me....

:crazy1: