Pseudanthias cf. engelhardi or carlsoni

[CarlC]

Anyone have any ideas on this Pseudanthias? Roughly 10cm-12cm long and a very stocky body. No collection data was available but I suspect the Tonga area as it was collected with Pseudanthias pictilis.

Thanks!
Carl

 

[Pavaphon]

I got this first cf. about a years ago. It come out as a sp. from the same dealer as the pictilis as you understand.

 

[CarlC]

Pavaphon did you have females also? I was told females are over all orange and did not have the red patch on the dorsal or the red bar on the mid body. The line running from the upper lip to the pectoral is present and is exact color of the line on the male.

I recieved an email today from a very reliable source that the species is the true form of engelhardi. It is endemic to a very few specific reefs around eastern Australia, Figi and Paupa New Guinea. A locale from Tonga was also likely.

The two males have settled in nice. The QT is kept cool around 71. They are eating live brine gut loaded with PraziPro 5 times a day along with two feedings of Hikari mysids soaked in Selcon and Vita Chem.

Carl

 

[Pavaphon]

Yes, the female was orange with few pale lines on the gill cover. I was told that they were also shipped out from Vanuatu from time-to-time. I'm sorry to says that I didn't get any picture of this species at the moment.

If you love this complex, I still got a picture of another one unknown sp. from Indonesia. It is similar to the sp. 'bloodspot' that appeared in the trade, but it have several things which make it different from the others.

 

[CarlC]

Pseudanthias are my only interest in this hobby! I currently keep dispar, engelhardi, flavicauda, lori, parvirostris, and pictilis. In the next couple of month's I will be adding fasciatus and Cook Island ventrailis to my care.

Yes please post the picture.

Thanks
Carl

 

[Len]

Lovely anthias. I'd also recommend Bimacs if you like Pseudoanthias. They've got the most personality of any in that genus IME.

 

[CarlC]

I wouldn't mind a fair sized group of Bimacs. Room for more tanks is getting hard to come by though!
I am still eagerly searching for olivacous. This species seems to have disappeared from collection.

Carl

 

[Pavaphon]

tried P. ventralis and those cf. ventralis that ship out from other location if you could make a species tank.

tried to look for P. thompsoni, they are occassionally out from Hawaii. You should obtain one if you're lucky enough. They're not striking, but it worth to get one in your collection.

my other favorite anthias are P. hutomoi, P. cooperi, and P. taeniatus

 

[CarlC]

The ventrailis that have been coming out of Tonga have had poor success. The temps they were collected at were in the lower 60f's at 50m+. The Cook Island form seems to be alittle more durable. Like you said a species tank is a big advantage with the species.

I am on a waiting list for thompsoni and hawaiiensis. So few are collected I guess it will be a long time before I get them.

I have never seen hutomoi. I have seen cichlops which is pretty close except for the spots on the back of females. Taeniatus will always be a dream. Has it ever been in the states before?

Carl

 

[Pavaphon]

I just went throught my photo collection today. I choose some of them out to post here. Let's start from Len's favorite, Pseudanthias bimaculatus (male).

 

[Pavaphon]

My own fav. Even though it's rather aggressive with the member of the same genus, Pseudanthias cooperi (male)

Another delicate species. Sunburst Anthias (Serranoirrhitus latus)

Another impressive fish, Pseudanthias fasciatus.

PS. I saw P. taeniatus once during my trip to a fish market in HK. It seems that they're occassionaly sell there.

 

[Pavaphon]

Come to the questions. This is the fish that I said about. Look like P. sp. "bloodspot" in Michael book right? but look at the ventral fin and some physical difference. They shipped out from Indonesia.

They look similar with those label as Pseudanthias marcia in the trade. But this is a fish from Maldives.

 

[CarlC]

Excellant pictures!

The first picture is a fish that is very similar to a species found also in southern Japan to the Philippines. Kuiter makes a note that the fish from Japanese and Philippino waters is distinct in that the spot is equally devided between the fin and back. Your fish doesn't seem to be the same. A impressive fish!

The second picture "marcia sp." is as far as I can find is still not named. It has been suggested that it is marcia but just a color variant.

Carl