The Hagfish

As the weather cools and focus shifts indoors, the ‘trop season’ is upon us. Since the last one there’s been some changes to the names of things with Corydoras catfish and now it seems tetras being reclassified. Predictably, it takes suppliers a while to catch up with these name changes and many people will be pleased to hear that common names are pretty much unaffected.

Traditionally there’s a number of species that are bred and sold to us with the wrong names and have been for years, many of these are very familiar and seem to be here to stay. Let’s look at a few examples that generally perform under their stage names.

Yellow tangs (Zebrasoma flavescens) have joined the roster of rare and expensive marines in the last few years and it’s great to see a chunky and fin-perfect specimen like this one at Scotsdale. Their availability might have changed dramatically, but caring for this fish hasn’t – especially since captive bred specimens now dominate the trade.

Fish in the flesh – some thoughts on why we feel it’s best to buy your new pets in a bricks and mortar store.

I won’t lie to you; I buy things online like pretty much everyone else. There’s massive convenience in being able to search for obscure or specialist items that you’d have to trudge around shops to find. It’s also handy being able to shop when stores are closed, or if you don’t have the time for an away mission. Some things are dependable, identical and low risk when bought blind. Others are somehow very different. In the Venn diagram of ‘things I would buy unseen’ and ‘pets’ there’s certainly not too much overlap.

As someone who’s worked in the aquatic trade for decades, I’ve taken a punt on more than a few batches of fish in my time. Many of us are familiar with the classics – the charming Upside-down catfish that turn out to be a lifetime supply of Synodontis nigrita, stroppy Garra that were meant to be Siamese algae eaters, Mayan cichlids that should be Red terrors and same-sex pairs of species that you’d hoped to breed. All of these and more are occupational hazards when you’re buying fish from a list, either illustrated or not. Luckily the rise of electronic communication has made these kinds of identification problems less common, but Corydoras julii and Desmopuntius pentazona are still two names that you’ll see used incorrectly 99% of the time (of course the former is now Hoplisoma but that won’t be changing on commercial fish lists anytime soon).