Anybody got a lychopod?

[jiml77]

Got a great looking fish today. The lfs that I usually trust said it was reef safe any experience with one? Jim

 

[Goldmoon]

Not that I ever had one.... but I was curious and looked on the internet and that word is found nowhere... I tried with different spelling and nothing..

Is there another name for it??
Got a picture??
You made me very curious!!

 

[jiml77]

I did the same search and found nothing also. I thought of getting a picture when I first put it in the tank but did not do it. Now it is hiding. The fish is about 4 inches ling and has a head about 1/2" in dnameter. They said it was in the goby family and tends to hide in holes most of time. It is a bright yellow, a little darker than a yellow tang. It has two wiskers below its mouth. Has long fins along the top and bottom of the body that kind of flow in waves when it swims kind of like some eels. I will get a pictue as soon as it reapears. Jim

 

[DonK]

Sounds like a Yellow Brotula. In S. Michael's Pocketguide, he gives "Lycopod Goby" as an alternative common name. Unfortunately, he gives it an aquarium suitability score of 1, see p 46 in the book for details.

Good luck,
DonK

 

[jiml77]

It is a yellow brotula or brotulina fusca. Found a page with a photo. http://qualitymarineusa.com/fish/photo/gobies/2815.html. One other site rated it as a 2-3, with some of the more common gobies rated as a 4. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah. Great fish, provisionally. Highly secretive and nocturnal. If you put it into a tank with lots of live rock to hide in, odds are you'll never see it again. Very hardy, very disease resistant, largely inoffensive but it will eat small fish and shrimp. Doesn't show up in the trade very often, I think I've seen four offered in the past 20 years.

The best way to keep one would be in a species tank with -very- subdued lighting, in the hopes of getting it to spend more time out in the open. I think one would largely be fine in a reef tank, but you'd never see it.

 

[jiml77]

Thanks for the info Charles. He's in now, hopefully he comes out once in a while. Have to talk to my lfs about the invisible fish they sold me.