Frogfish ID, Please help!

[melbell86]

I posted about this in the frogfish files, but thought i would make a dedicated post. I ordered this frogfish from liveaquaria about a month ago, and he was purchased as an Antennarius spp. When he arrived, i could clearly tell he was not an antennarius at all. I did some research and i have come down between two species. He is either Lophiocharon lithinostomus or Lophiocharon trisignatus. The trisignatus species has three spots and a lure, but mine does not seem the have the lure and i cant really tell if he has spots (he is really decorated). So i am leaning more towards Lophiocharon lithinostomus. The only reason I am not certain he is this one, is because he doesnt have the "marbled" mouth most of them have and it says they are really rare. He does not have any lure at all though, which is why i am more partial to this species. Here is a video and some pictures. Any help would be appreciated. I also posted two links to the species page. Thanks!

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h195/meldav86/013-1.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h195/meldav86/004.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h195/meldav86/003.jpg

Here is the video of him swimming around
http://youtu.be/N8Kk8z_cPYM

Here are the links to the two species pages
http://www.frogfish.ch/species-arten/Lophiocharon-lithinostomus.html
http://www.frogfish.ch/species-arten/Lophiocharon-trisignatus.html

[DoubleM 10]

i have no info on anglers lol but that is an EPIC fish. good buy. i hope someone will be able to help u out

[Monkeyfish]

Am I missing something? It sure looks like your fish has a lure.

[melbell86]

Am I missing something? It sure looks like your fish has a lure.

He has a rod (Illicium), but no lure (esca). The lure is usually a little fluffy thing at the end of the rod :P Here is a pic of him next to my other frogfish, who is an Antennarius, and you can see he has a little fuzzy ball on the top of the rod (its resting on the top of his head).

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h195/meldav86/004-1.jpg

[melbell86]

i have no info on anglers lol but that is an EPIC fish. good buy. i hope someone will be able to help u out

thanks! I was really surprised when i opened the bag. its kind of a mystery when you order an angler from liveaquaria because there are several antennarius frogfish species they might send you, but i really had never seen a frogfish like this before! He is super cute, and is already eating frozen food which is nice :)

[Monkeyfish]

[QUOTE=melbell86;18938446]He has a rod (Illicium), but no lure (esca). The lure is usually a little fluffy thing at the end of the rod :P Here is a pic of him next to my other frogfish, who is an Antennarius, and you can see he has a little fuzzy ball on the top of the rod (its resting on the top of his head).

Thanks for clarifying.

[melbell86]

[QUOTE=melbell86;18938446]He has a rod (Illicium), but no lure (esca). The lure is usually a little fluffy thing at the end of the rod :P Here is a pic of him next to my other frogfish, who is an Antennarius, and you can see he has a little fuzzy ball on the top of the rod (its resting on the top of his head).

Thanks for clarifying.

yeah no problem! it is a little confusing :P

[Stumped]

Beautiful frogfish. I'm pretty certain based on the pictures provided and the Frogfish.ch site that it is definitely not Lophiocharon trisignatus. The Three Spot lure is very complex and a specific mimic (compared to most other lures).

The nostrils + long rod look most similar to Lophiocharon lithinostomus, but it also looks smooth in your pictures and not textured as it would be. If your fish does indeed not have the characteristic marbled mouth, then it's possible he is neither species.

I have to head out right now, but I'll take a look again later.

[melbell86]

Beautiful frogfish. I'm pretty certain based on the pictures provided and the Frogfish.ch site that it is definitely not Lophiocharon trisignatus. The Three Spot lure is very complex and a specific mimic (compared to most other lures).

The nostrils + long rod look most similar to Lophiocharon lithinostomus, but it also looks smooth in your pictures and not textured as it would be. If your fish does indeed not have the characteristic marbled mouth, then it's possible he is neither species.

I have to head out right now, but I'll take a look again later.

thank you for your input! I agree, i dont think he is trisignatus, i dont see the spots and his lure is completely absent. its funny, when i first saw him i thought "aww something bit off his lure! oh no!" I have tried to get a closer look at his mouth the last few days and its hard to tell, maybe because i dont know exactly what they mean by marbled.He does have textured looking upper lip from what i can see. I will also try to coax him to the front with the next feeding and get some better shots of him (since his favorite spot is facing the back corner of my tank). Thanks again everyone for your input, as i am really curious to determine what this little guy is. :)