Unusual Animals at LFS

[WiscSea]

I stopped by the lfs after work tonight. This guy specializes in exotic animals. Snakes, lizards, spiders, etc. As far as saltwater he had a few animals I have never seen sold in a fish store before and I'm wondering how keepable these guys are.

Here is what I found:
Huge Angler Fish 16" or so
One of those lamprey eals that attaches to sharks
Big flounder
Little jelly fish (clear and blue)
Stingray

It was fun to see these things, but I'd be dissapointed if these are the types of creatures that shouldn't be kept in captivity.

Ideas?

 

[Aescleah]

GRRRRRR !

think thats all i have to say


Ashley

 

[Runner]

Lamprey eel? Those are like the vultures of the water. They would only attach to a dead fish -- or kill one once they attach to it. Perhaps you meant remora? Strange to see either for sale. Not exactly easy-to-keep fish. Most of those things are easy to find in the water with a fishing net (the flounder sounds tasty), but keeping them would be a bear.

 

[WiscSea]

Yes, it was a remora. Sorry about that.

This is kind of disapointing. I'm trying to find a good lfs over here and thought I had. The owner is a super nice guy and really trys to help. Maybe he was swindeled by his supplier.

 

[Runner]

The key would be does he sell those things to any idiot that walks in or does he make sure they know what they are getting in to and that at least their tank is big enough. A store that sells a baby hippo tang and a clownfish to a clueless family who buy the "Marlin and Dory" 12G nano-cube all in one package is way more irresponsible than somebody who sells you a remora. At least a remora would be easy to feed since they are scavengers, but I think it would probably take a tank used for a comperable-sized shark for them to feel at home. And perhaps a chiller if it is a cold-water variety. I've seen them in open water before. And the things are dangerous -- I wouldn't want one to stick that sucker on me. But at least they are not in short supply like many reef fish are.

 

[fishinchick]

Of the list that you mentioned,

Frogfish - feaseable to keep in captivity but usually only eats live foods. This sucks because feeding one that large is a challenge and it will likely end up being fed goldfish which is bad for it. The nutritional needs of the fish will not be met and it will spend the rest of it's life malnourished.


A remora is a scavenger and would be fine on being fed most anything. The problem is they are like sharks and require a LOT of space and a LOT of really super filtration. So put that where it should go.

Big flounders eat live fish and have BIG appetities. It'll starve. Sad.

Little Jelly fish - even public aquariums frequently find this animal a challenge. I'm sure it'll end up in a fish bowl somewhere for a couple of days.

Now stingrays ... if given a big area in which to swim around and a nice sandbed, a stingray can be kept in captivity. I have seen many blue dots and spotted rays that adjust to captive diets of marine meats, and even pellet food (yeah you heard right).

Kinda sad that people tout 'exotic' and 'rare' as a marketing ploy to get someone into their shop. If it's so exotic and rare shouldnt it have been left in the ocean in the first place to make more?