shrimp fish??? maybe some type of trumpet fish??

[rharr21]

My LFS recieved some type of fish he is calling a shrimp fish. They are about four inches in length and swim in a verticle orientation head down. The tail has a short maybe quarter inch 45 degree bend in it. They have a green stripe length-wise with a creamy brown base color and resemble sea grass. The hover over a piece of live rock and seem to pick at it. One of them readily eats small live brine shrimp, but seem to have a difficult time at it, I expect the others are starving. Sorry I have no pic. Does anybody know what I am talking about? They are selling for 14.95. I thought of getting the one that is eating brine and putting it in my refugium, but hate to waste the money if it will likely die. Thanks.

[rharr21]

Sorry double post!!! Please remove.

[jmicky41]

Sounds like a shrimpfish. IIRC, they usually reside in groups among the spines of large sea urchins. They are known for being hard to feed, requiring such foods as live baby brine, copepods and such. Most other fish (except maybe seahorses) will outcompete the shrimpfish, leaving them to starve.

[honda2sk]

they definately need a dedicated tank (species only)

awesome fish though, saw an incredible display of them at a connecticut aquarium

[honda2sk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10078354#post10078354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rharr21
but hate to waste the money if it will likely die. Thanks.

sorry to call you on this but isnt that pretty draconian? instead of thinking about a beautiful fish starving to death, your more concerned about losing 14.95?

dude you got your priorities screwed the f up

[J. Montgomery]

sorry to call you on this but isnt that pretty draconian? instead of thinking about a beautiful fish starving to death, your more concerned about losing 14.95?

dude you got your priorities screwed the f up
Man, you need to chill. I'm pretty sure the general concensus with all members of RC is that no one wants to see any animals die, especially through starvation.

He's doing the right thing by not buying a fish he doesn't think he will be able to care for. By buying it, that would perpetuate the cycle of people catching, distributing, and selling livestock that have poor chances of survival.

[honda2sk]

im chill just stated what i felt

its a discussion board dude

[rharr21]

honda2sk,

Sorry to offend you. :mad2: However, you know nothing about me or my ethics.

The best thing I can do for a fish is not purchase it, if it is not going to survive in my tank. And if every body would ask first before they buy, maybe there would be no demand for this "shrimp fish" that is difficult to keep.

And yes, I consider it a waste of money to purchase a fish that is going to die.

[dc]

[flamealert]

[Lotus99]

Our LFS had a school of those recently. They seem to be fairly slow to eat, and perhaps not good swimmers. The ones at the LFS were definitely eating well. I believe a customer bought the whole batch.

They're definitely a very interesting fish! I wish I knew more about them.