Bird Nose Wrasse

Visitor: "You know that blue fish...?"

Staff: "Ahh yes, it's the bird nose wrasse."

Everyone knows the blue fish that is Dory from Finding Nemo (Regal Tang), the small devil damsels and yellow tail damsels are also blue fish, and even though they look pretty, no one wants to know about them.

But this blue fish; the bird nose wrasse (Gomphosus varius) gets a lot of enquirers and look at it!

Why wouldn't it?

Many people are just content knowing the name of this fish, though many more want to know "What's up with that nose?" This species has a long snout, you may make out that it looks a growth is growing on that snout. It's really common for these fish to develop tumors on their nose, this happens in the wild also. They have long snouts because they use them to stick between rocks and crevices to pick away at any crustaceans like small crabs hiding away in there. Rocks and crevices can be sharp which irritates their nose causing this growth. You may be wondering if it's serious. It can be but only if the growth interrupts their feeding. 

As you can see this is a nice healthy fish, he eats well and isn't skinny. We do have the option to operate if the growth becomes a problem, we have a vet that can perform the operation if the need be. But, there's nothing to worry about for now. He's a fine strong healthy fish that enjoys his food. He's doing fine. I say "he" because this blue fish is a boy.

You can tell if the bird nose wrasse is a boy or a girl just by the colour. The blue ones are boys, the pinky/orange/browny ones are girls:

It would be pretty easy to look at this fish and decide it was a different species altogether. But no, she's a bird nose wrasse who hasn't developed a tumor. Both swim together in our Lagoon tank.

Not the information you were looking for? Try Fishbase.org

Deaths Head Hawk Moth Caterpillars

Let’s talk about some bugs now, for those bug people out there; the Deaths Head Hawk Moth Caterpillars (Acherontia atropos). This is the largest moth found in the U.K, with its wingspan measuring 15 cm (6 inches) You might remember them from appearing on movie posters such as “Silence of the Lambs”. But that’s the moth, not the caterpillar; I will talk more about the moth when they are moths.

You may notice the photo is of much better quality. That's because I didn't take it.

Ultimately I was drawn to them because they looked like lucha libre sausages. Then I found out all they do is eat and that was it. Awesome.

Unfortunately these aren't residents of the bughouse, they are a personal project for entomologist Paul who's manager of the bughouse. His goal is to breed the adult moths when they emerge.

When I first saw these guys they were about 4cm and as thick as a pencil, a couple of days later they were 10cm and as thick as my pointing finger! They like to eat, that's all they do, and Paul had to keep going out supplying them with food. 4 buckets of privet (a hedge shrub plant) a day for 16 caterpillars. In the wild they feed on potato crops or nightshade plants, the fact pesticides are sprayed on potato crops is probably why they aren't as common in the wild as they used to be.

I found out this morning these caterpillars have pupated, they buried themselves in their soil and will stay there for around 3 months, and then an adult moth will emerge from the soil. Check back in 3 months to find out about the Deaths Head Hawk Moth.

Not the information you were looking for? Try UKmoths.org.uk

Spiny Spider Crab

We have new additions to the Aquarium! Well, new to the viewing public, we've been hiding them behind the scenes for about 4 months so they're sort of part of the furniture to me, which doesn't mean I've lost interest in them, in fact, now they're out and can actually be seen by people, my interest has peeked. Let's take a look at them.

The Spiny Spider Crab or the delicious sounding Maja squinado is a hefty sized crab. It's not counted as the largest crab found in British waters, that's the edible crab. But if we go on leg spanning size then the Spiny Spider Crab is longer. The carapace (that's the big middle bit where the legs stick in) of the Spiny Spider Crab can grow up to 20cm across, edible crabs can get to 25cm and edible crabs are heavier.

You may be able to make out green fuzz on the crab in my picture coming off the crabs legs and carapace. Don't worry, it's meant to be there. It's actually algae; you can see it on the walls next to him, as an aquarist I feel slight shame in showing off our algae walls, you may think the algae adds to the tank and not see a green mess and I encourage you to keep thinking that, we can also call it seaweed which makes it look better... Though, the fact the algae is in this tank is actually great, and here's why:

The crab has picked at that algae off the walls and attached it to it's legs and carapace. Why would it do such a thing? To camouflage of course. In the wild they will place seaweed or sponges on their bodies and hide themselves in with their surroundings. I think that's pretty clever.

We've got two of these crabs in each of our modest sized local species tanks. The pictured one is from the "Hilbre tank", which is the tank that looks like it's empty.

It's not actually empty, all the animals in the tank have amazing abilities of avoiding being seen, and the design of the tank also helps them with this. Which we are going to sort out.

This is the same tank taken from above. You may have spotted that rather large common starfish hiding in the corner... there were two more hiding in that corner too, the dogfish on the floor can be seen from the top, but those looking in and down in the tank from outside wouldn't see him, three other dogfish were hiding in the far left hand corner too, and a couple of spiny starfish are- you guessed it- hiding in a corner. There are about 8 goldsinny wrasse and a couple of rock cooks and a male and female cuckoo wrasse (all fishes) living behind the rocky theme.(far right in the photo, behind that barrier) They're fine, they feed well, they just don't get seen other than by us when we look down on the tank. Catching them is pretty difficult. But one day soon we will sort this tank out and I will blog about it.

It may be difficult to spot the spiny spider crabs but trust me, it is worth having a proper look round the tanks, look down into the corners too, you may spot some of our other animals pretending not to exist.

Not the information you were looking for? Try MarLIN.ac.uk

Raccoon Butterfly fish

Some more tropical reef fishes to look at, we have a load of these, you may have noticed them as the colourful ones. That's not a shot at our local species, because fish like the cuckoo wrasse (who will get a blog at some point) is a colourful fish, but for the most part, and compared to tropical reef fish, the cold water species look drab. (I can say this, because they're my favourite).

The Raccoon Butterfly fish (Chaetodon lunula) is in my opinion the best of our butterfly fish. Only because it's named after a Raccoon. I'm sure you can spot why it's named after a raccoon (those black patches around its eyes). It's a really neat looking butterfly fish.

They like to eat soft corals and anemones; much to our dismay. The anemones might be able to avoid predation if they have Clownfish living in them protecting them, otherwise they're a tasty treat for a butterfly fish. Soft corals can look awesome, a really awesome looking soft coral called Xenia would be eye candy for our tanks. Best way I can describe them would be they look like lots of feathery hands grasping at nothing. Unfortunately we can't share these soft corals with you because within minutes of putting them in the butterfly fish (and I'm looking at you raccoon butterfly fish) will have demolished it and be swimming around bellies full looking mightily proud of themselves. Ok, maybe I just imagine that as fish don't mock us, I don't think.

Not the information you were looking for? Try fishbase.org

Anthias

Going back onto our tropical fish now, because there are a few to get through, up next is this little fella...

I'm sorry, I mean lady. This is a female anthias. And below is the male. 

This is the sort of picture that would make fish enthusiasts or even just someone looking for a nice fish picture weep. It also makes me question my decision to take photos of the animals with my phone and not ask for a hot shot photographer. But nah, it's charming isn't it? I like to think so. Enough about my life. Let's talk about the fish.

I've been introduced to these fish as "anthias" and I know them by their binomial name Pseudanthias squamipinnis, other people know these fish as "Sea Goldie". But enough about their life. Let's talk about the fish.

This species shows sexual dimorphism, that means you can look at these fish and tell which ones a male anthias and which is a female anthias. There are a lot of marine animals where just having a quick look won't do, some you have to chop open to see, but these guys have made it easier for us.

The females are orange and a little smaller, they have a neon-punk style violet streak below their eye. My photo will never do it justice, a photo from wikipedia will though:

The males are a bit bigger, about one and a half times as big as the females, this is my casual observation- it's not science. The males are a wicked fuchsia colour, and have an elongated ray on their dorsal fin. You can sort of make it out in my photo. Though I know it's there so I can see it. I will find you a better one. Wikipedia once again.

Males also have fancy tail fins. It's hard to explain, but they're  more pointy and elegant than the females.

My favourite thing about these fish are that they are sequential hermaphrodites. This is why animals and nature are just mind blowingly-amazingly-supercalifragiciously awesome! Anthias are protogynous hermaphrodites, this means all anthias are born female but some have the ability to change their sex into male. Lots of fish live in harems (anime nerds may be familiar with a harem), a harem is a group consisting of many females to one male. You'll have about 5-10 female anthias all sharing the one male anthias. If that male dies, and they're male-less, one of the females in the group will change their sex and become the male to the harem, and help produce more babies. There are other types of sequential hermaphrodites, and there is a very popular fish that I'm not going to give away just yet... but when I talk about them, you will find out. *wink*

Not the information you were looking for? Try FishBase.org

Greater Pipefish

The second most asked question I get as an aquarist after "toilet?" is "Do you have any seahorses?" People LOVE seahorses. I know I break their heart when I tell them "No, but...

...we do have Pipefish, which are related to seahorses" (If I wanted to show off I would call them Syngnathus acus, but I don't, because I don't speak Latin well).

Some will fain interest at the animals related to seahorses, others won't look me in the eye, I've been spat at! and children begin to cry... ok, maybe not that drastic. Those that are still interested in these creatures are first to point out that their heads and snouts are a bit like a seahorse! They use these snouts to "vacuum" in their food, they will eat small crustaceans like mysis shrimp- hoovering them up. It's pretty neat to watch, there's a bit of food in front of their face, *vrooom*, now it's gone quick as a flash.

So why is the homelier pipefish awesome? I like these guys because they are gluttons.Actually, that's a bit harsh, we feed them three times a day not because they're greedy, but because they don't actually have stomachs. Yeah, seahorses don't have stomachs either. Food goes in and passes out fairly quickly, so they need a constant supply of food for nourishment.

Feeding time is always fun, there are a lot more in the tank then you would think first glance. They're incredible at camouflaging and finding a nook or cranny to hide in. Then when food is there, they all come out of hiding and you'll see about 19.

Not the information you were looking for? Try MarLIN.ac.uk

Mantis Shrimp

One of the best parts of my job is discovering animals I didn't know we had... take for example this fella...

The Mantis Shrimp! He is only about 5cm at the moment these can grow to 30cm! I do not know which species this one is, there are over 400 species of mantis shrimp- perhaps if I get a minute I can look through 400 descriptions and tell you but today isn't that day. 

So how could I not know about this little awesome guy? Easy; shrimps, urchins, crabs, mantis shrimps and all sorts come in on live rock. In the back we have quarantine tanks with lots of corals and lots of live rock, (the rocks aren't alive, it's the marine life that lives inside these rocks that give to its name). Just like in the oceans there are loads of animals yet to be discovered, the same can be said for our tanks! 

I know that hobbyists aren't so enthused if they see one of these little guys scuttling along in their tanks because they can be pests- eating the corals, burrowing through them and destroying them, eating the fish... maybe if we hadn't have managed to catch and isolate him I wouldn't be so enthused either.

The Mantis shrimp like many other species of the world is ill named, because it isn't a shrimp. Why isn't it a shrimp? Shrimps are in the order decapoda and mantis shrimps are in the order stomatopoda. Shrimps have 10 legs, mantis shrimps have 6 legs and a load of fin like appendages known as pleopods (shrimps have those too) and like a shrimp the mantis shrimp is a crustacean. But yeah, it's not a shrimp.

Let's have some awesome facts:

Mantis shrimps are either "smashers" or "spearers" depending on their "raptorial appendage" otherwise known as claws. This raptorial appendage is why they're called a "mantis" shrimp, because it's very similar to the grasping front legs of a preying mantis. 

The "smashers" claws have a hardened calcified "club" on the outer edge of their raptorial appendage which they can use to hammer, club or smash through their prey! Prey with hard-bodies like crabs.

The "spearers" have a row of spines along the outer edge of their raptorial appendage, these sharp spines can slash, stab and disembowel their prey. Prey with soft bodies like fish and shrimp.

I would go take a closer look at our mantis shrimp for science to see if hes a smasher or a spearer, but I've heard a smashers claw can go through glass! So it would have no trouble going through my finger. Ok, he might only be 5cm but I don't want to risk it.