my new velvetfish

[mollymonticello]

I just got this little guy yesterday. It is a velvetfish, aka Caracanthus madagascariensis. I'll try to get some better photos later. It is such a lovely color. White with tiny red spots that resemble polyps almost. It has some stiff white shafts on the pectoral fins that I believe release venom when something tries to eat it.

Anyone else have any experience with these?

 

[adtravels]

looks like the gumdrop coral croucher they had on LA,
may eat small fish and crustaceans, cool looking critter.

 

[seapug]

cute little fish. try to get us some better pics and let us know how it does.

 

[JHemdal]

These have a venom gland on their dorsal spines - does anyone know if they are "medically significant" for humans if you get stung?

Jay

 

[chrisstie]

I have one in my 34g. He hides but has slowly been trained to come out and eat out of my hand. Haven't experienced his venom but stay wary of it when feeding.

Absolutely adorable, one of my favorite gobies. Thinking on ordering a couple to try keeping as a colony but dont know how they'd react. Need a bigger tank or some extra room around here first though

 

[triggerfish1976]

I believe these are actually a species of scorpionfish or closely related. I can confirm the info about the fish predation. I saw one try and eat a neon goby recently.
I would also be curious to know how potent the venom is since they seem to be coming in with more regularity lately thus the venom could become a bigger issue if more are being kept.

 

[Kinetic]

I've kept one for awhile, they are a bit afraid at first, but will eat most foods.

They're extremely thin, and love to sit around in small thin crevices. They are hilarious when they swim out to grab food then dart fast yet clumsily back to their hideout.

They are pretty poisonous, as much as a lionfish. I'd be wary of putting in unprotected hands into the tank, thought they're not likely to attack.

Small tanks for these with great filtration is a must. Small because you must spot feed them, and if they end up living inside a crevice that can't be seen, they will never get to the food.

 

[mollymonticello]

Triggerfish, are you sure it was a velvet fish that you saw trying to eat the neon goby? How big was the velvet fish and how big was the goby? I'm a little alarmed. They don't get very big themselves. I hope mine never decides to eat my little fish, that's pretty much all I have--small gobies and a few pipefish. Two of my pipes are really small, like 2 inches.

I have seen my velvetfish eating cyclops. He is just in a 55 gallon tank, so I can find him pretty quickly. That is really neat that you got yours to eat out of your hand, Chrisstie. I am not that brave!

So the venom is in the dorsal fin. I will remember that. I saw the white lines on the pectoral fins and thought that might be where the venom comes out...shows how much I know. He does use his pectorals kind of like "hands," though. He is pretty cute.

Their closest relative is the scorpion fish. Scorpionfishes and velvetfishes are in the same order--Scorpaeniformes.

 

[mollymonticello]

Here he is, I can't believe I got this picture. He hides constantly. He is so funny and cute, though. I love him.

 

[triggerfish1976]

The Scorpian was a little over an inch and the neon goby was abnormally small but it still was able to catch it.

 

[zemuron114]

i caught a hawaiian velvet fish (the ones here are endemic - same type but different species as the ones coming in from Africa i believe)

pic of Hawaiian one - http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/stender/fishes/frogfishes/frogfish.htm
scroll down near the bottom.

They are a huge pain in the butt to get out of Coral heads so no one bothers to collect them here. They are neat little fish.

 

[mollymonticello]

Oh, wow, thanks for that link. How cute. Yeah, I am sooo not a photographer. It's always a miracle when I get a decent pic.

 

[mollymonticello]

look at his cute little face

<a href="http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img3265ge5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3058/img3265ge5.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

glass is a bit dirty...

<a href="http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img3272od5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2572/img3272od5.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

 

[Snowboarda42]

neat fish

 

[sweetrav18]

had one for 3 wks them starved to death. check the avatar!!

 

[shiggs]

Thats a pretty fish good luck with him.

 

[mollymonticello]

"Scott" (after Scott Weiland) is so tame now he eats right out of the syringe!

<img src="http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/148/img3673gd5.jpg">

He likes to perch in "his" spot which is in plain sight and he is always watching me. He will even follow me as I walk around the tank, always waiting for some mysis to fall in the tank. He has definitely become my favorite fish.

 

[LisaD]

saxman and seahorsedreams, of sh.org had one, you may want to PM one of them...

 

[seapug]

mollymonticello, the name of yours has me laughing...

"Scott" (after Scott Weiland)"--I can only assume that name somehow related to the syringe feeding method...:lol:

 

[mollymonticello]

Lisa, we talked about him at IMAC last weekend They've already seen the pics. They are great people!

Seapug, I'm glad you like the name. Actually, I named him that when I first got him, because he just looks so much like Scott Weiland (it's the red hair. and he's skinny). The fact that he eats out of a syringe so voraciously is a self-fulfilling prophecy, I believe. What's really cool is that I'm going to see STP in concert for the first time this summer (I've been a fan since the early 90's). If I meet him, I'll have to mention that my fish is named after him.