sargassum angler

[curtisd]

i have a pair that are breeding and was wondering if anyone has had a pair lay eggs before? and how long before they hatch?

 

[FMarini]

its not uncommon for anglers to lay eggs in captivity.Female anglers have a wonderful capacity to store gamates, and can produce fertile eggs repeatedly even w/ no male around.
The egg mass will dissolve in 2-3 days and the eggs will hacth in a few days more. However the fry are microscopic and free floating, this free floating planktonic phase last for approx 1month.
During this time its unclear what the fry eat. There is a report or two on successfully raising angler fry, but its a different species than Histrix

 

[aomont]

Hi Frank, are anglers fertilized internally like FW livebears ?
Anderson.

 

[Luis A M]

Re: sargassum angler

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9913468#post9913468 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by curtisd
i have a pair that are breeding and was wondering if anyone has had a pair lay eggs before? and how long before they hatch?

Very interesting! (and unusual)
Could you tell us more?,Size of the tank and the fishes,tankmates,what you feed them,aggression between them.
Have you seen them laying eggs?Pics would be just great!:

 

[curtisd]

60 gal hex / i feed them silver sides and ghost shrimp. they are the only 2 fish in there ....they have laid 3 ribbons and i have thousands of little worms "thats the fry right?"and they hatched about a month ago....ive been putting photoplanton in for the little guys. ill get some pictures later today

thanks curtis

 

[curtisd]

my next question is do anglers only hatch what type of angler they are or could the sargassum have a colored? i havent been able to find out much on-line

 

[FMarini]

Curtis-
may i ask
why your adding phytoplankon- fish eat meat, not plants.
Is your plan to feed th einfauna which will supply the angler fry?
what else is in the tank w/ the angler fry

your worm statement is troubling. fish fry tend to look like dust specs, or under a scope- fish. maybe these egg ribbons your seeing is in fact snails eggs (since my anglers have always produced egg masses) or invert eggs.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

That was what was running through my mind, FMarini.

curtisd, take a look through this thread, and watch the video. In the video, the actual spawn takes place at about the 2:45 mark.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic32865-12-1.aspx?

 

[curtisd]

the lfs said to add phtoplankon for the fry.... and im positive that the worm looking things are the fry because i don't have any snails in that tank at this time... also the female angler blew up like a balloon and over night she went back to normal size and there was egg raft/ribbon in the tank. here is a link that shows a picture of what i saw.....

http://www.pbase.com/imagine/frogfishspawn

i tried to take a picture of what im seeing but they are way too small.....


so what should i be putting in the water for the fry then?

thanks Curtis

 

[curtisd]

and the video is exactly what i had a one point

 

[curtisd]

im not sure if fry is the right term for what i'm seeing? im new to this breeding concept so please forgive me if i through out the wrong terms.

 

[sunfishh]

You might want to pm uberfugu. He has a huge collection of anglers and I am sure has some insight into the larva's needs

 

[stevemc]

Fry is the right name for baby fish. The baby fish eat tiny animals such as rotifers, or maybe newly hatched or birthed brine shrimp. The tiny animals such as the 2 above named eat phytoplankton. Most LFS do not know anything about breeding or raising marine fish.

 

[curtisd]

thanks

 

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9916886#post9916886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by curtisd
my next question is do anglers only hatch what type of angler they are or could the sargassum have a colored? i haven't been able to find out much on-line

Curtis,could you rephrase your questions?.I´d like to help but I can´t understand what you are asking about.Sorry about my english.
You say you have a sargassum fish,right?.This is only one species :Histrio histrio,from the Caribbean.A simple picture,or asking the lfs where the fish came from could help ID.

Then,if I understand right,you say the tiny "worms"whatever they are,survived one month in the parent´s tank?.
If that is so,you can be sure that they are not fish fry,as these could only survive in a special larval tank under very special conditions.I don´t think anybody could raise them so far.

But your experience is nothing short of outstanding!.You are keeping a pair of anglers that did not kill each other but are spawning,possible fertile eggs.
Keep an eye for courtship behaviour,and when you get another egg raft watch with a loupe or microscope for egg/larval development.Not easy,thought!

So keep us posted!

 

[curtisd]

so what should i do with the eggs the next time it happens? you said "very special conditions" what conditions do i need to keep them in.

there are a few pics i keep one of the ribbons in the blue mesh and there is a picture the has a dip and pour like what the fish stores use, the eggs are in there at the bottom of the tank.....and the other pictures are the anglers...thanks for the help..

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h158/mayfeild44/DSC00127.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h158/mayfeild44/DSC00126.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h158/mayfeild44/DSC00125.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h158/mayfeild44/DSC00122.jpg

 

[Luis A M]

Uberfugu could help with the ID.I´m not sure if they´re sargassum (Histrio)or frogfish (Antennarius).Will check my books tomorrow.
As I say,it is very unusual that you can keep a spawning pair of them.If you want to see the larvae you should put the raft in a 10gal tank with an airstone to keep it moving.Larvae are so small that if they hatch in your hang on cage,they would go across the mesh.

 

[uberfugu]

Curtis, looks like you have a pair of Antennarius striatus (but Luis may be correct
with the A. hispidus thought).

FishBase

Firstly, congrats on the spawning event. It usually means you're doing well
with the fishes care. Genera Antennarius is really difficult to raise in
captivity. The fry are extremely small, have an extended pelagic stage, and
once they go through metamorphosis, they are cannaballistic.

Mr. Ugly has had the most recent success and the fry still die at about the
month mark. He also has support from Reed Mariculture. As Dr. Marini says,
animal feeds (rotifers) are suggested first feed, progressing to copepods, and
larval shrimp, etc.

I've had some spawns but have not seriously attempt to raise this type of
angler fry. I think your best bet would be a kreisel arrangement similar
to what Mr. Ugly set up. Search the breeders forum back to last summer (06)
and look for Mr. Ugly's posts.

BTW - IME and observations, angler "pairs" can and will eat each other. This
has happened after multiple spawnings and when they aren't in season. The
female is particularly ravenous (she needs food to manufacture eggs) and
won't hesitate to take down her mate.

 

[curtisd]

thanks for all the help ill check out the previous posts.

thanks Curtis

 

[rjarnold]

Uberfugu is right on the A. striatus identification. The species is A. striatus and not A. hispidus because of the worm-like esca. A. hispidus has more of a ball of tuft than the 'worm-like' appearance of the esca of A. striatus.