Uh.... these aren't blennies.... or are they??

icebear · 10-22-2003, 05:42 PM

I bought two of what i thought were Red Scooter Blennies, they are floating in bags in tanks right now.... i tried to let memory serve my by thinking they were just the little res and white ones that were peaceful and ate mudbugs, flake food and maybe grazed a little even taking some nori, so i was like "Ok, 2 for the price of one and the price is $9.99" i bit....

i get home and haul out my Burgess book....and look up online.... and these are not what i thought was the Red Scooter Blenny- which can be seen here:
http://www.janetsreef.com/scooter.htm
or
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/373934.html

they look more like a Parapercis of some sort..... kinda like Parapercis schauislandi on wetweb page.....

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sandperches.htm

arrgh!

i don't mind keeping them, but i don't know which tank i want them in now..... i don't know if they are safe together, safe for my other fish, if they are peaceful or not, if they eat what i planned to provide them with when they were blennies....

i was gonna put both in the 30 since the red scooters are supposed to be ok together, but i don't think they are RS and need to be separate, then again i don't want to put one in my 46 cause i really don't feel like having to catch it if it causes trouble...

arrgh...i should never have taken a 'vacation' from saltwater stuff!

icebear · 10-22-2003, 05:46 PM

actually, what Janetsreef website has is a lot like them as well.... what she calls a "Fire Goby"
here:
http://www.janetsreef.com/firegoby.htm

but looking up "fire goby" just gets me a Firefish Nemateleotris magnifica

ack....

icebear · 10-22-2003, 05:56 PM

in Burgess atlas third edition, page 502, third photo down, on the left...the red and white one...that looks the most like what i have... has a heart icon under it.... i hope that means good things .... eats inverts, small fishes, likes rocks....okay...
looks like the P. snyderi though too...but that says not for beginners...

yes, i need to be hit with the "stupid stick"

Alice · 10-22-2003, 07:16 PM

I've never kept them but judging from what Scott Michael's book says about them I don't think I'd put them in the same tank since both your tanks are on the small side. Not overly aggressive but as the perch gets bigger it may harass smaller fish and munch on ornamental shrimp. He also says they're jumpers.

Bummer. If you'd had your heart set on the scooters, I'd take these back. Although Scooters have the same basic requirements as Mandarins and do best feeding on pods.

icebear · 10-22-2003, 07:43 PM

ack....

well i was looking for 'something new' and i thought i knew what scooters were and that i could keep 'em...i have plenty of pods for them to ead, but finding out that they aren't what i thought they were puts a whole new twist on it. i thought i knew what they were, didn't think i needed to look anything up....
i really like the look of them, they act neat kinda chamelion-like, look right at you and flip one eye this way and the other eye goes the other way, and they hop side to side like a barrel horse and a flip of the tail...
brilliant red, clear white.... really quite pretty...i'd like to keep them since i wasn't spesifically looking for a blenny, i think i'll keep one in the 46 and the other in the 30....

maybe i'll take a few pics of them tomorrow...there seems to be a shortage of good pics of that type of fish on the internet.
Thanks for the info!

StellaMN · 10-22-2003, 08:00 PM

Hey Icebear...

I have a Parapercis schauislandi. It was sold to me as a "red checkerboard goby." I've also seen them called "hawk blenny."

Anyway, I only have one. Thanks for the links....I've been wondering what exactly they were.

Mine is a character.....quite comical with a personality, but a very aggressive feeder. His belly stays VERY round. Not sure how I feel about his adult size being 8", but we'll see what happens.

Jodi

salt creepette · 10-22-2003, 08:49 PM

Yeah i would keep what youve got. Even if you have a lot of pods, if you got a true scooter 'blenny' (actually they are in the dragonet family), he would eat you out of "house and pod" in short order and then probably starve to death (as pods are their natural food and they dont recognize flake and other stuff as edible)

Doug1 · 10-23-2003, 12:19 AM

FWIW real blennies usually have "eyelashes" gobies have modified pectoral fins that forma suction cup arrangement. Get them pics up girl, we wanna see what you got .
Dontyuou love Fish Store Lotto

ruhspolostar · 10-23-2003, 12:45 AM

Well I was told that a lawnmower blennie and an orange spotted sleeper gobbie would get along and mine fight ligke brother and sister

________________________________
"Live Long and Prosper"

icebear · 10-23-2003, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by salt creepette
, he would eat you out of "house and pod" in short order and then probably starve to death (as pods are their natural food and they dont recognize flake and other stuff as edible)

oh, i guess i am lucky- i would have been badly wrong there, cause i thought they would take flake and even algaes occasionally.... i've already got that mini monk fish thing and he eats pods (but goes for flake and frozen with gusto) so a dragonet/blenny added to that and i'd have no pods for either in less than a day....

right now, my red spotted whatevers are in the 30.... (i didn't dare put one or the other in my 46 if digging it out of there was in the future) i set up 3 shell caves for them to choose from and they seem to have decided on their territory....the greenspotted puffers, being intensely curious with a penchant for all things red, found out quickly that these perches would come right back at them.

there were eyes moving in all directions!

don't know if thats a good sign or not

either they will all settle in and ignore eachother or my tank will be a warzone...

they seem to be eating well at least, went right for the Omega flake and darted around.

They look just like green anoles (teeny lizard) only red and white (oh, and no legs), amazingly intellegent looking fish.

Why is it every time i get a fish i think i know what i got, then get home and have to frantically research?
i really don't do it on purpose, i either get misleading articles, a LFS employee who is certain they know what they are talking about but has no more clue than i do, or someone just outright decietful... *shrug*

keeps things exciting i guess, but i'm lucky nothing has been disasterous yet....yet

Doug1 · 10-23-2003, 10:03 AM

Well thats what makes it Fish Store Lotto

Carrying Burgess or Micheals fish ID books around would help tho not always convenient. Books tell how fish usually behave but the fish rarely read the book so no guarentees. Wouldn,t it be great if LFS had a terminal handy to search fishbase or similar

Heck while we are wishing how bout proper ID.
Sounds like you got a couple interesting fish, hope they don't get 8" tho, they might get grumpy

icebear · 10-23-2003, 11:25 AM

Yeah, the lotto

makes life interesting!

as far as them getting big... i hope its not fast...but i've always got dreams of a 200+ gallon tank in the back of my mind, maybe two of 'em

thats why my stuff is in the basement, no worries about calculating the carrying capacity of the floor structure on a house that will be 2 centuries old in about 6 more years.

one less thing to convince the hubby of when the time comes if it ever does.
but i'm still way too new at this, as is obvious by my need to post this thread