Fish of the week

New Release Fish of the Week: Puppy Shark, Chyllosyllium punctatum

Fish of the Week™

Puppy Shark

by Neil Gunther

LATIN NAME: Chyllosyllium punctatum

EATS: fish, crustaceans, worms, dolphins

The Puppy Shark, or Epaulette Shark, is a playful little lump that enjoys to be with the company of people such as divers. In Australia, the Puppy Shark will come and “hang out” with a tourists’ feet. Generally the tourist is alarmed and swims off.

Puppy Sharks are happy little fish. They usually live in lagoons, reefs and tidepools, which make for good protection and plenty of food. Puppy Sharks are so playful that, according to John Charles Delbeek, P.hD, “their few predators are ashamed to eat them.”

Puppy Sharks are not only easy to train, but they are plentiful so people can collect many for the aquarium trade. They are quite hardy and therefore are recommended to new aquarists, but only if they have 30 and up gallon aquariums with other predatory fish, such as morays, lionfish, crevallé, permit, spadefish and frogfish.

If you want to, you can buy one!!! But only if you’re advanced and you keep reef/saltwater tanks. They’re insanely hardy. Feed them on live foods such as crabs at first, then slowly wean them off it and give them sinking massivore pellets.

TEST YOUR SKILLS—and play my new Crossword Puzzle! It. Is. So. Hard…!! 

FISH OF THE WEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

Fish
of the ®
WEEK
by —•— Neil —•— Gunther

  

Wine Fighter
Betta rutilans

Size 5-9 inches
Where? Indonesia all the way down spilling into Queensland, Australia
Habitat stagnant waters with many plants


The pretty, wine-red Wine Fighter (or “Rutilans Fighting Fish”) lives like a next-door neighbor to the Forest Mouthbrooder, Latin name Betta pugnax.

Though the Plakat Forest Mouthbrooder strain is the most dangerous Fighter that ever lived, Mr. Wine and Mr. Forest are very nice to each other! That's amazing, 'specially since the males just have small quarrels now and then. Little or no harm is done.

No harm is much more common!

Do you think a Betta dimidiata and a Betta imbellis would fight?

You're wrong at that.

Only to males of the SAME SPECIES will fight.

BUT if they’re of the same strain, e.g. a Plakat imbellis and a Plakat splendens, they’ll both fight. DO YOUR RESEARCH IF YOU BUY TWO MALE BETTAS.

Rutilans is the least aggressive Betta, second in only to the Peaceful Warrior Fighting Fish (Betta imbellis).

Mr. Rutilans eats bugs he sifts out of the sand.


I hope you enjoyed this Fish of the Week®!

All rights to Neil O'Brien Gunther