Popeye Catalufa

[Anonymous]

Have known a couple local fishkeepers who really like these and after seeing a couple of healthy specimens at the LFS have been thinking of setting up a species tank for one or more of these and possibly some kind of biotope with other geographically adjacent animals.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/species ... hp?ID=3519

Most of the ones I've seen for sale are I think Pristigenys serrula and collected from deeper tropical and subtropical waters in the Eastern Pacific. I seem to recall a closely related species in the tropical Atlantic area. Being a relatively deepwater fish they probably wouldn't do well in a conventional reef tank with photosynthetic organisms but rather a more dimly lit tank. Possibly cooler temperatures would suit these fish as well (sub 78 deg F) ?

As far as health my reading has found there can be obvious decompression issues and I've worked with fish long enough to spot the obvious signs but futher research has referenced problems with gas bubble afflictions in their large eyes caused by cativation / bubbles. I would most likely be changing my FW display tank (220 gallons 6'x2'x2.5') over and running this with a sump, small refugium and a good sized Euroreef skimmer. I have a bazillion halides to choose from and was thinking one small , lower wattage, lamp in the center of a 6 foot tank would give enough light over the display while affording the fish with plenty of hiding spots in the dark in the right and left third of the tank. Would probably have 1 or 2 large Streams for flow in the tank but I'd have to place them low enough they won't cause microbubbles, also I would have to tweak sump to keep excess bubbles out of the sump return.

As far as tankmates I wanted to keep this fish as the centerpiece but could consider maybe hamlets, hogfish and other varieties of squirrelfish as possible additions. Many crustaceans and echinoderms would be out with the hog and Bigeye's have absolutely huge mouths so that rules out any of the nice smaller schooling cardinals or damsels from such a display. Anyone kept these and have any feedback?

 

[jhemdal1]

Goldstein,

IMO, the Atlantic species, the short bigeye, Pristigenys alta is a better choice. They don't grow quite as large (and are usually collected at a much asmaller size), are deeper red color, and smaller specimens don't seem to bang their eyes up as much, so the exopthalmia is less of an issue. That said, the E. Pacific P. serrula is more commonly seen in the trade.

Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Cool fishie! No experience with it, but if you are planning on being geographically accurate, I would just say that the two common Caribbean hogfish species (B. rufus and B. pulchellus) are much nicer looking than their Pacific counterparts and are found in deep water. If you can get your hands on larger specimens of Liopropoma eukrines or Prognathodes aculeatus those would also make excellent and depth appropriate tankmates. Hope this helps!

 

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to thank you both Jay and Matt for the excellent feedback. I am going to probably proceed with the Eastern pacific variant but am doing research on sourcing one from the Atlantic as well.

This will likely turn into a FOWLR with a few semi - appropriate, assorted invertebrates for the area the fish is found. The hogfish sounds like a good choice but I'd have to start with a slightly larger specimen given the BigEye's equally big mouth.