Anthias experts (ID needed)

[Gary Majchrzak]

All of these Anthias were imported as dispar. They arrived in two separate shipments- four specimens arrived first and three more a couple of weeks later. All swim together in my aquarium and act the same, yet there is a distinct blue eyelid on only four of the fish- the other three have no blue marking. All have a pink dorsal fin (a key ID feature of dispar) and appear to be juvenile fish. Are the ones with blue eyelids young Lyretails, variations of dispar or possibly something else?

[mattyice]

the ones with blue eyelids are female ignitus, the other 3 im nut sure out but they look like dispars to me, here is a picture of my female ignits next the the male





the ones with no blue eyelids could be ignitus females starting the change to males

[Gary Majchrzak]

I suppose ignitus is a possibilty. None of my fish have the tell tale red spot at the base of their pectoral fin (a key to ignitus ID), but all of the fish are still juveniles....

[mattyice]

well if you look at the female in the top pic she doesnt have the red spot at the base, i believe that is a male feature because i only saw it on my males and none of the females had it, also i have only seen pics of males and until i got my females i havent seen one

[SDguy]

Definitely not lyretails. Unforyunately, the net comes up with no pictures of ignitus females except this one:


The females seem to have blue eyes, but it's a tough to tell pic.

Juvi dispars that I had were always just pink. And then even the male had a completely red dorsal fin, not half red half yellow in the back like those. They're probably ignitus or just variants of dispar, from a certain location. Regardless, beautiful fish. I wish you the best of luck with them. Better than mine at least

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by SDguy
Definitely not lyretails.

That's good- I'm hoping they aren't Lyretails.
Here's a pic of a female ignitus from fishbase


and here's a dispar


of course these are preserved specimens and I wonder if the pigments in each fish were faded when the pics were taken...

[SDguy]

All dispars I had did have the noticeable red tips on the tail. Do all of yours?

[haywood2]

I wish anthias were easier to keep. I absolutely love them, I think they are some of the coolest, brightest saltwater fish out there. Maybe one day I'll give it a go.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by SDguy
All dispars I had did have the noticeable red tips on the tail. Do all of yours?

None of my fish with blue eyelids have red tipped tails. Two of the fish without blue eyelids have red tipped tails and one doesn't.

[SDguy]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
None of my fish with blue eyelids have red tipped tails. Two of the fish without blue eyelids have red tipped tails and one doesn't.

Hmm, maybe a noteworthy attribute.... What does the dorsal fin look like of the one without blue eyes and no red tips on the tail?

[Gary Majchrzak]

Lights are off already. I'll have to check tomorrow, Peter.

[Gary Majchrzak]

FWIW I dug up a pic of one of my plain eyelid Anthias. This is one with a red tip tail. (I realize the red tips are very faint, but they're there.) The blue eyelid is very obvious on the other fish in the foreground.

[mattyice]

i am still going to go with the blue eyelid ones being female ignitus anthias, that is exactly what my female looks like (and peter the males were a problem, the supermale killed all of the males over night and one of the females, i have a pair left but they are healthy and happy)

[SDguy]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
FWIW I dug up a pic of one of my plain eyelid Anthias. This is one with a red tip tail. (I realize the red tips are very faint, but they're there.) The blue eyelid is very obvious on the other fish in the foreground.

Yes I see the red tips on the tail. See how the entire dorsal fin is red. It seems your blue eyed ones have that half-yellow portion on the rear dorsal where it connects to the body (as can even be seen in the fishbase picture).

[mattyice]

lol that it what my female ignitus look like, i will try and get a better pic when i get home but they have the bright blue eyelid, the half red half yellow dorsal fin, and the stripes down their cheek

[SDguy]

Yeah, I agree with matt, probably ignitus.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by SDguy
.... What does the dorsal fin look like of the one without blue eyes and no red tips on the tail?

it's dorsal fin looks exactly like the other fish without blue eyes- a darker shade of pink. I would be surprised if this one fish isn't the same species as the other two even though the red tips are absent from it's tail.
I've noticed that although all of these fish swim together during the day, they sleep in seperate groups: the blue eyelid group sleeps in a different area than the plain eyelid group. I'm pretty sure it's safe to conclude that these fish aren't all dispar.
It'll probably get easier to figure out what they are as they mature.

[Gary Majchrzak]

female ignitus? I think so.

[Gary Majchrzak]

what is it?

[petedoc]

Gary, what do you feed your anthias? I have a new school of seven and they seem quite picky. Any suggestions?

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by petedoc
Gary, what do you feed your anthias? I have a new school of seven and they seem quite picky. Any suggestions?

I think it matters which type of Anthias you have.
I had Lyretails and Squarebacks in the past that would take live (freshwater) feeder fishes!

My tuka and Lori's Anthias refused to eat anything and perished.

IME Coopers, Bartlett's, dispar and ignitus take almost any smaller foods as long as the food is moving in the water column. My fav foods to feed these Anthias are meaty prepared seafoods: frozen HUFA enriched mysids, artemia, Cyclopeeze, and VibraGro (small pellet). They'll also take most flake as long as it's the proper size (small) and moving in the water. I've seen them take other foods as well, but the key to feeding many Anthias IME is food size and movement in the water- they won't touch a large chunk of their favorite food if it's sitting around somewhere in the aquarium.
I have an autofeeder that feeds my aquarium twice a day. I also feed manually at least twice a day. Hope this helps.

now... ID still needed on this type of Anthias.

[petedoc]

Thanks Gary. They are Dispar Anthias. I will try what you have suggested, they do like the cyclopeeze.

[SDguy]

Gary, when I had a pair of redbars, the young female looked like that..all pale pink, same body shape, and those distinct red tips on the tail. I don't recall the blue outline or eye though, but it has been many years. I would look at similar species to the redbar for comparisons.

hth

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks for the suggestion, Peter

[Gary Majchrzak]