Local fish ID please

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2 Jan 2011
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Somerset-West, Western Cape
So I caught this guy at vetchies today. It was in a stony coral like a hawkfish would be. I caught it because I thought it was a scorpion fish, but I'm not sure anymore. I thought I saw another one of the same size(possibly it's fully grown), but I could have imagined it. It's about 7cm and not very active. A local angler said it's a juvi rockcod, but I don't think so. It has some dorsal spikes as well, but I'm not going to test if their venomous :m13:

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I'm flying back to Cape Town tomorrow afternoon and can still release this guy before then if I have to.

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Also accidentally stepped on this guy and it shocked me. It's a pretty awesome little fish. I let it go, but what tank size would you think would be suitable for this guy. I researched about keeping rays a while back and this could be a cool future project. I'm assuming it's an electric ray, but don't know the species.

Thanks in advance!
 
No idea about the fish, but rays are pretty easy, nice open surface areas are better than high tanks, soft small grain substrate and actually breed easily

There are great threads on keeping and breeding on monsterfishkeepers.com
 
I read they are quite easy to keep, except for the big tank they require. If my id on the ray is correct they stay under 40cm. It will really make an awesome tank for one day...
 
Sebastapistes cyanostigma - [Yellowspotted scorpionfish]
and
Torpedo nobiliana - [Electric ray]
 
Yellowspotted scorpion, Sebastapistes cyanostigma. There are hundreds there...once counted 15 on one colony. Actually quite a cool species. Better looking than most and one of the smallest scorpions.
 
Thanks guys! It's awesome that it's a scorpion. I originally wanted a dwarf lion from this trip, but a scorpion is even better and you don't see many in the trade. Do any of you know of someone that has one? Do you think it will develope the red coloration of those I see on the net?
You guys in kzn are so lucky:thumbup:
 
I've kept them for a few years. Just be sure to keep them with peaceful fish, preferably slow eaters. They're very shy. Can be tricky to get them onto dead food...but being in CT you should have no shortage of glass shrimp or small crabs to get it started. Put the shrimp right in front of them with a pair of forceps to prevent the other fish grabbing em first.

Haven't actually seen any dwarf lions so far this season, but it is a little early I guess.

Edit: Oh, and the colour is variable but most of the bright looking ones in photos online are taken with a flash that is heavy in red/orange/yellow light which makes them look more vivid than what they actually are.
 
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how venomous are these specific scorpionfish?
 
but you have the mountain :whistling:

So true:tt2:

Thanks for all the info. I need everything I can get because there's so little on the net. He's in the tank now and coloured up already, now just to get him feeding...

I also brought back 2 gold ring cowries, a money cowrie, a sexy shrimp and 2 hermits.
The trip wasn't that successful on the fish collecting side of things , but the snorkeling was amazing. It's just sad that I only discovered vetchies on the last day of the trip. Will definitely be back as soon as I can:thumbup:
 
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