Rare lionfish or what?

StephLionfish

StephLionfish

New member
Well, I don't know how to put the link on here...but on Blue Zoo Aquatics, in the Collector's Choice, there is a lionfish that strikes me as abnormal... It says it's a Pterois Antennata and a hybrid. I've only been in the saltwater hobby for two years, ( so I admit I haven't seen much ), but I was curious on everyone's thoughts on this lion.
( I know, I know, stupid thread since I don't even have a link for the lionfish! :thumbdown If someone will please tell me how to post the link I will get right to it! Is it the whole " copy/ paste " deal? )
 
Copy the HTTP address and then in the message box click on the Earth with 2 chain links. Then paste the address there.
 
LINK

lion_110427_close1.jpg
 
The guys at BZ are pretty good at ID, but I'm not sure exactly how they can prove its a hybrid over a rare pattern morph.

Renee and I have a P. antennata with an uncommon pattern, and the thought "hybrid" has come to mind, but I don't know if lions would hybridize.

I think proof would have to lie in DNA studies.

Perhaps Frank can weigh in here...
 
I wish i knew if it's difficult to keep or not. I'd snatch it and put it in my 210 gallons. But, I plan on having a Volitans in the 210 in a month or two, and I'm not sure how the two would act together... ( or if the Volitan would eat this lion once they are both full grown ) :(
 
Idk dude. The lion is much hotter than a volitans..... Call and ask If its eating 150 doesn't seem far fetched.

Sent from my HTC Aria using Tapatalk
 
DAMN that's a good looking fish if my tank was ready I'd be all over it.

Seems like a reasonable price for such a rare coloration.

-Dustin
 
Dang, I'm not home. And for some reason i feel someone else will get it before I do. So it would be fine with a Volitans? No one will get eaten? ( I know about the whole big Volitans will eat a baby P. antennata, big P. Antennata will eat baby Volitans)
 
StephLionfish said:
I wish i knew if it's difficult to keep or not. I'd snatch it and put it in my 210 gallons. But, I plan on having a Volitans in the 210 in a month or two, and I'm not sure how the two would act together... ( or if the Volitan would eat this lion once they are both full grown ) :(
Click to expand...

IME, P. mombassae isn't particularly hard to keep, but they do demand that you keep on top of your water quality, as they're much less tolerant of parametric changes and pollutants than P. volitans or P. russelii.

A Mombassa won't grow as quickly as a volitans, but as mentioned, they should eventually be OK together. Again, it all boils down to "size differential", altho if juvie or young fish grow up together, that also helps.

Finally, altho P. mombassae can be very good eaters, they aren't in the same league as the volitans, so you'll need to make sure they both get their fair share of food.

HTH
 
StephLionfish said:
Dang, I'm not home. And for some reason i feel someone else will get it before I do. So it would be fine with a Volitans? No one will get eaten? ( I know about the whole big Volitans will eat a baby P. antennata, big P. Antennata will eat baby Volitans)
Click to expand...

therefore lions of the same size should come to an agreement and play nice. no?
 
Namxas, i feel like I'm missing something obvious... How can they grow up together as juvies when the Volitans will grow faster? Wont the Volitans outgrow this one and eat him if they grow up together? Or is the Volitans not going to grow too much more than the Mombassae to matter?
 
This is really more of an anecdotal thing, but enuff folks (including Frank Marini) have noticed this that it's worth mentioning. What I was getting at is that for some reason (and it isn't always so), lions and scorps that have been raised together often end up with a "tolerance" of some sort where they don't see their tankmate as food. Another thing that would help would be to acquire the smaller fish first, and then add the larger species after the first fish is well-established. Unfortunately, this is an individual fish issue and not a "sure thing", so one must weigh their risk tolerance, esp. if you really like a given specimen.

We've been very lucky in this respect, and again, if we have a "special" fish, we typically don't take even remote chances.
 
This lion was caught in the Solomon Islands and has characteristics of both P. radiata and P. antennata which is why when caught they assumed that it was a hybrid. I think that Blue Zoo is just assuming that the I.D. from the Solomons was correct. This is the only one that we have seen with this type of pattern or body shape in over 15 years of collecting in the Solomons. P. radiata is not very common in the Solomons but a few specimens have been caught there. P. antennata is much more common there.

Dave
 
Actually, if it's a hybrid anything, I'd lean more towards P. mombassae and P. antennata, as they share the same basic range and are very similar morphologically. However, I still believe (based on the single photo) that it's simply an "oddball" Mombasa (note the spotting on the pectorals). Its eyes do seem a tad small for a Mombasa, but it could very well be the angle of the photo.
 
I almost feel like we should pop by Blue Zoo to look at the fish. Its pattern is definitely unique. Not that I'm correct, but I'm just not seeing "radiata".

I wonder what kind of biotope it was collected in...just trying to account for an "environmental/location" color morph.
 
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