…and win a pair of captive-bred anemonefish (A. ocellaris) from the Long Island Aquarium. The first person to provide the correct answer (genus and species) gets it. The prize can be picked up at the Manhattan Reef Swap on December 4th. ID and information on biogeography will be provided in a subsequent post.
Banded Jawfish Opistognathus macrognathus
Trachinocephalus myops, Snakefish or bluespotted Lizard fish
Trachinocephalus myops is it. I wasn’t expecting anyone to get it so fast, mainly because it’s virtually unheard of in the trade, and locally, it is so much less common than the similar inshore lizardfish, Synodus foetens. Also, I figured because of its stance in the photo, that people might think it was some kind of jawfish. Anyway, good job! Let me know if you’ll be at the Manhattan Reef Swap to collect your prize.
Thanks! I remember seeing this fish in one of Scott Michaels reef fish books and thinking that it was a weird looking lizardfish, almost like a stargazer or weaver fish. Anyhow, unfortunately I’m a San Diegan, so I wouldn’t be able to collect on the prize.
Well, if you know anyone in the Manhattan reef club you’d like to pass the prize along to… Unfortunately, I don’t have the budget to FedEx them. Anyway, good job on the ID. I’m about to post more info on the species.