Yellow Headed Jawfish
Jawfish
Jawfishes are packed with personality, and I include them here for that reason. They do have a certain look about them that will put some aquarists off, though - you either love that toad-like face or you don't.
Unlike some of the species in this article, many jawfish are easily kept and make wonderful additions to the average tank. But they do have a few specific care requirements, the main one being a deep bed of mixed substrate for them to dig their burrows.
Being poor swimmers and an easy target for predators, jawfishes rely on digging burrows and sitting within them, waiting to nip out and pick morsels of food from the water column. Watching the male resting proudly at the entrance to his burrow, incubating his brood within his mouth, is a real talking point if you are able to acquire a pair.
The digging habits of jawfish may cause substrate to cover or disturb nearby corals and cause rockwork collapses, so plan ahead and secure your rockwork during you tank setup if you are thinking of acquiring a jawfish. This is good advice for saltwater tanks, anyway.
There are several species of note, which if introduced together can be kept in species-specifc groups in larger tanks. The bluespotted jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) is a stunning fish with neon spots that must be kept in a cool-water setup to do well. The yellow-headed jawfish (O. aurifrons) is also a beauty and will do well in a typical tropical tank. Both reach around 4 inches in length and do well in a tank of around 30 gallons or more.
Care level: Easy to intermediate
Reef safe: Won't eat corals, but may disturb them by digging
Frogfish
If ever a group of fish were needed to epitomize the word "odd," the frogfishes would be ideal. Their astounding skin coloration and texture alone makes them unique in the fish world and certainly places them in a class of their own.
Frogfish are from the anglerfish group, named after the modified spine they use to lure prey fish toward their cavernous mouths. A small fish mesmerized by the worm-like or fish-like lure is no match for the rapid inrush of water into the frogfish's mouth, which can open with remarkable speed.
This hunting strategy allows for a very sedentary lifestyle, which will see a single frogfish occupy a very small area for weeks, if not months, at a time. They rely on fish coming to them, so they are very poor swimmers. To move about, they mostly rely on their modified pectoral fins, which resemble legs and allow the fish to walk across the rockwork and amid corals and sponges.
Frogfish do well in small aquaria, though they do produce a significant amount of waste (they can eat fish up to half their size), so you will need to keep on top of water changes and ensure good filtration. As for feeding, guppies or other cheap livebearers were the foodstuff of choice in the past, but nowadays frozen whole fish are recommended. They can be fed to frogfish with a feeding stick, which can be shaken to simulate movement to encourage a reluctant fish to eat. Antennarius pictus, A. striatus, and A. hispidus are commonly available.
One note of caution seems common in the literature - these fish are easily stressed, and stress in Antennarius species is linked with mysterious deaths when no other cause is apparent.
Care level: Moderate
Reef safe: Yes, but they may walk on corals and present a risk to ornamental shrimps and any fish they can eat
To find out more, you can check out Yellow Headed Jawfish.
Jawfishes are packed with personality, and I include them here for that reason. They do have a certain look about them that will put some aquarists off, though - you either love that toad-like face or you don't.
Unlike some of the species in this article, many jawfish are easily kept and make wonderful additions to the average tank. But they do have a few specific care requirements, the main one being a deep bed of mixed substrate for them to dig their burrows.
Being poor swimmers and an easy target for predators, jawfishes rely on digging burrows and sitting within them, waiting to nip out and pick morsels of food from the water column. Watching the male resting proudly at the entrance to his burrow, incubating his brood within his mouth, is a real talking point if you are able to acquire a pair.
The digging habits of jawfish may cause substrate to cover or disturb nearby corals and cause rockwork collapses, so plan ahead and secure your rockwork during you tank setup if you are thinking of acquiring a jawfish. This is good advice for saltwater tanks, anyway.
There are several species of note, which if introduced together can be kept in species-specifc groups in larger tanks. The bluespotted jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) is a stunning fish with neon spots that must be kept in a cool-water setup to do well. The yellow-headed jawfish (O. aurifrons) is also a beauty and will do well in a typical tropical tank. Both reach around 4 inches in length and do well in a tank of around 30 gallons or more.
Care level: Easy to intermediate
Reef safe: Won't eat corals, but may disturb them by digging
Frogfish
If ever a group of fish were needed to epitomize the word "odd," the frogfishes would be ideal. Their astounding skin coloration and texture alone makes them unique in the fish world and certainly places them in a class of their own.
Frogfish are from the anglerfish group, named after the modified spine they use to lure prey fish toward their cavernous mouths. A small fish mesmerized by the worm-like or fish-like lure is no match for the rapid inrush of water into the frogfish's mouth, which can open with remarkable speed.
This hunting strategy allows for a very sedentary lifestyle, which will see a single frogfish occupy a very small area for weeks, if not months, at a time. They rely on fish coming to them, so they are very poor swimmers. To move about, they mostly rely on their modified pectoral fins, which resemble legs and allow the fish to walk across the rockwork and amid corals and sponges.
Frogfish do well in small aquaria, though they do produce a significant amount of waste (they can eat fish up to half their size), so you will need to keep on top of water changes and ensure good filtration. As for feeding, guppies or other cheap livebearers were the foodstuff of choice in the past, but nowadays frozen whole fish are recommended. They can be fed to frogfish with a feeding stick, which can be shaken to simulate movement to encourage a reluctant fish to eat. Antennarius pictus, A. striatus, and A. hispidus are commonly available.
One note of caution seems common in the literature - these fish are easily stressed, and stress in Antennarius species is linked with mysterious deaths when no other cause is apparent.
Care level: Moderate
Reef safe: Yes, but they may walk on corals and present a risk to ornamental shrimps and any fish they can eat
To find out more, you can check out Yellow Headed Jawfish.
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