Spotted Kole Tang

[Beckmola24]

I am interested in the spotted Kole. Are they readily available and are they good reef inhabitants? Where is the best place to get a spotted Kole? I see them in 2 places and there is a 100 dollar difference between the 2 places. Also would one be ok in a 90g (48"long, plenty of swimming space)

[hgbarwick]

of course any kind of kole tang would work ina 90 gallon. They are great reef fish. You can find spotted kole tangs at most LFS.

[Amphiprion]

The tangs you speak of are actually a different species. The kole tang is Ctenochaetus strigosus, whereas the spotted bristletooth tang is C. truncatus. Some suggest that C. truncatus is merely a variant of C. strigosus, but at the moment, it is a recognized separate species. If you have a good lfs, look and see if they got these tangs in by accident (I know we have shipments of C. strigosus that has at least several C. truncatus in them). I don't really understand the $100 difference, either. They are not that rare.

[thor32766]

yeah i have seen them at quite a few stores here in florida. beautiful fish both them and highly underated.

[Beckmola24]

Anyone have pics they could post? I'm sure my LFS has gotten them in, but I guess I never noticed. Anyone here have any pics of either type of Kole they could share?

[Kahuna Tuna]

A $100 dollar difference? I've never even seen any bristletooth tang go for $100 with the exception of the chevron tang. The standard kole, Ctenochaetus strigosus, is the one that is is most common in the trade but I have seen most of the other Ctenochaetus tangs offered regularly and most of them seem pretty common. Here is a link to pics of all the tangs, http://www.fishbase.org/identification/specieslist.cfm?famcode=412&areacode=

I am currently keeping a binotatus and he has been a great fish.

[Beckmola24]

The Ctenochaetus trunctatus (spotted Kole) is 149.99 at themarinecenter.com but on saltwaterfish.com they are only 49.99. SWF.com doesn't give the latin name though, so I'm not sure they are the same fish (it says spotted yellow eyed Kole on both sites) Anyways, what makes them such good fish to keep?

[Kahuna Tuna]

It says spotted yellow eyed Kole on both sites

That sure sounds like a trunctatus, yea I guess Marine Center would be hideously expensive but I sure wouldnt pay $150 for one. They do have quality fish though. All of the bristletooth tangs are very good reef fish because of their size (they stay small for tangs), algae eating abilities, hardyness, and the fact that most of them are fairly mellow for a tang (but not all). The only drawbacks in some folks minds is they aren't one of the really flashy or beautiful species like a powder blue, clown tang, achilles, ect.