#Ropefish

[picturesoffishandotherthings]

He is beauty, he is grace, he gets punched in the face (by enthusiastic ropefish). Poor Sev, he's just floating around.

(From my 450l freshwater tank)

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #561

Reedfish!

Their larvae have external gills, making them resemble salamander larvae. Due to their elongated bodies, their movements are very snakelike as they swim close to the bottom of their habitat.

[deathmoth-blog]

The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, Erpetoichthys calabaricus, is a species of fish in the family Polypteridae alongside the bichirs. It is the only member of the genus Erpetoichthys. It is native to fresh and brackish waters in West and Central Africa. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs in addition to gills, allowing it to survive in very oxygen-poor water. It is threatened by habitat loss through palm oil plantations, other agriculture, deforestation, and urban development.

The largest confirmed reedfish museum specimen was 37 cm (15 in) long, and three studies where more than 2,000 wild reedfish were caught (using basket traps, meaning that only individuals longer than 15–20 cm [6–8 in] were retained) found none that exceeded 41.4 cm (16.3 in). Although sometimes claimed to reach up to 90 cm (3 ft) long, this is incorrect.

Body elongation in fishes, such as eels, usually happens through the addition of caudal (tail) vertebrae, but in bichirs it has happened through the addition of precaudal vertebrae. Reedfish have evolved a more snakelike body by having twice as many precaudal vertebrae as the members of its sister genus Polypterus, despite having the same number of tail vertebrae. Pelvic fins are absent, and the long dorsal fin consist of a series of well-separated spines, each supporting one or several articulated rays and a membrane. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs, enabling it to breathe atmospheric air. This allows the species to survive in water with low dissolved oxygen content and to survive for an intermediate amount of time out of water. The sexes are very similar in both median and maximum length, but females average heavier than males of a similar length, and they can be reliably separated by the shape of their anal fin. Reedfish are dark above and on the sides, with lighter orangish or yellowish underparts. Males are generally more olive-green in colour, whereas females generally are more yellowish-brown. Larvae have conspicuous external gills, making them resemble salamander larvae.

The genus name derives from the Greek words erpeton (creeping thing) and ichthys (fish).

[blockedragon]

Very important ropefish update

Now it found a way inside the marimo moss ball. Made a little tunnel for itself and everything.

[bestanimal]

I must submit some of my scaly babies for the vote.

My 10 year old plecostomus Snowflake I got him in middle school and he’s 18 inches long. Pleco’s are armored catfish and can actually walk some on land (I’ve seen in experiments but never tested it with Snowflake obviously.) My old boy actually wasn’t very friendly until he turned 8 then he came out of hiding and earlier this year started taking food from my hand. He also discovered he likes to be petted.

Nessie is an African ropefish, she has a turtle dock and stopped jumping once I got it for her. Ropefish are cousins of Bichir, normally nocturnal and actually come on shore at night to hunt slithering like a snake. Nessie loves attention and pets But will try to bite my mom 😂 she’s not happy and calls favoritism.

My last entry of oddball fish are Mexican eyeless/blind tetra. Some tetra retain small undersized and I working eyes as a recessive trait while the rest reabsorb their eyes. Two of my male cave tetra retained their eyes Ozark and GreyEyes. My other three, Linville and Cryptotora (my two girls) and the second biggest male Tinaja do not have eyes. Even without eyes that doesn’t mean they can’t see, they use a combo of things including a specialized lateral line that can sense water pressure changes, a system of photographic memory to memorize and mentally map out their environment, and they have a gland on top of their brain that can still sense light. They also communicate verbally with a series of clicks and in the wild they have developed shoal and cavern specific accents. These guys will eat anything and see the world with their mouths so they should only be kept with each other.

Feesh!

[aqua-dan]

I miss aquarium keeping as a hobby so bad sometimes 😔 As soon as I have the means/shelf space for fishkeeping again, you better believe I'm going to have the funkiest little guys

[laudofthedeep]

4, 14 and 17! :)

Oh my god, apparently I somehow saved this as a draft instead of posting it? Unintentional, but also this is so long I refuse to proofread it before posting. Sorry to the brave anon who sent this. I saw it, I’m just also an idiot.

4. Oh okay no I see what happened, I forgot what this question was and saved as a draft to go get the actual question but then I got distracted. I think the question was like…bucket list aquariums or something?

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta! It’s one of the biggest in the world, and one of a small number to keep whale sharks! Also the Aquarium of Western Australia in Perth for reasons I’ll explain while answering 14.

Honorable mentions to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which seems neat and heavily involved in conservation, and the Osaka Aquarium, which is both convenient and another of the few places to keep whale sharks but which I’m more cautious about due to Japan���s…lax perspective on animal ethics.

Incidentally, I’m not a particular fan of whale sharks (at least not any more than any other aquatic animal; they’re still neat) but an aquarium being able to keep them for several years indicates both an understanding of and a budget for keeping other aquatic life well.

14. What was an important, defining moment you’ve had with fish/aquatic animals?

I don’t feel like I had a specific important moment; rather, a lot of specific media gradually built together into an abiding passion for aquatic life.

There was something in the water in the early 2010s. There were four things that really stoked my passion for Fish.

The thing that really catalyzed it was Endless Ocean: Blue World, which is pretty much Fish: The Game. It was gorgeous (for its time) and did a good job introducing me to fish that weren’t typical aquarium fish (too bright, too same) or sharks (cool, I guess, but too sensational). As it turns out, there are all kinds of fish and they do all kinds of things. I particularly liked learning about deep sea stuff and still do because I like The Unknown.

Around the same time, I started watching River Monsters. I caught a bit of it on TV and fell in love. It had fish I recognized from Endless Ocean and it was (mostly) about being informational and scientific while still being narratively entertaining. At that time around me, fish were considered a hobby of rednecks (there was a lot of television about fishing that was very redneck, and I lived in an area that was decidedly Not Redneck) or the rich (who would go out on yachts and fish for billfish; these are who I lived around), and it was nice to see a television show that felt like it was for me and my interests.

Not too long after, Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out. Animal Crossing is many things, but to me it is a collector’s game. In that I use it almost exclusively as a fishing simulator, because that game is charming and it has Cool Fish and you can decorate your house with Cool Fish. This is self-explanatory.

But the most important one. The foundation. The godfather. Zoo Tycoon 2. I was just talking about that game with a friend the other night, and it was truly a boon for animal nerds everywhere. That game had a community that simply couldn’t exist these days. Both online and gaming culture have changed too much. Let me explain. Zoo Tycoon 2 was a pretty good game. Nothing groundbreaking. But. It had a format and source code that made it PRIME for modding. And so mod the world did. There were several forums in its glory days, and mods ranged in ability from “I took the base aardvark and made it red” to “I have lovingly rendered the world’s largest sauropod, adding several unique animations and behaviors and several hundred polygons”. And in these days, the internet would support you either way. Or at least the ZT2 community would. I can’t remember seeing a single disparaging post about something someone had created. There was one creator in particular (well, two, they were a team), Zeta Designs, who consistently made great stuff. Although I can’t find it anymore, they at one point embarked on a 1:1 recreation of the Perth Aquarium, creating new designs as necessary to reconstruct it. This right here is why I started getting interested in aquariums, and that’s what led me into the rest.

17. Do you keep an aquarium or an outside pond? If so, what animals (or lack thereof) do you keep?

I no longer do! I had to leave my aquarium behind when I moved to Japan, and that was very sad. I’d keep an aquarium now but my apartment won’t allow anything over five gallons. With that said, the aquarium I had was a 29 gallon with a pair of pearl gourami, a pair of ropefish, and some oto cats. I’d have wanted some more ropefish (they like friends) but I couldn’t afford a bigger tanks, so that was the best I could do. Actually, one of my proudest moments in fishkeeping was when I went to buy a new ropefish (one of them died during a terrible winter storm where my house lost power for a week, but it actually died in the fish daycare I sent it to because they have a nasty habit of jumping out of tanks and disappearing) and the fish store owner was like “I dunno kid, these guys are real hard to take care of and I’d hate to see see you coming back a week from now looking for another. How can I trust that you’ll be able to keep it alive?” And I was like. Uh. Well. I’ve kept a couple of them for three years now so I hope I’m good enough at keeping them alive. And the guy goes “Damn, three years? Arright buddy you’re golden, you’re better at keeping fish than 90% of my customers.” Dude got MUCH more talkative after that, I’m pretty sure I’d have been there for hours if my dad wasn’t waiting in the car.

[tei-to-tei]

the siren call of aquarium tanks is too loud to ignore

I can never stop adopting waterbois

My other cat princess <3

ARRKHRRGKGKAKFJFAK ANOTHER BBBYY??!? ✨💕✨

all my other children live in fish tanks, so here is a pic of my pufferfish son in exchange:

[salmonidscholar]

Favorite non salmon/salmon affiliated fish?

Gotta go with the bichirs n ropefish. They're a lovely little friend group of things that look like dinosaurs, and their skulls look like MUTOs and I think that's badass

[mod2amaryllis]

Do you have any fish that you dream about one day getting? For me it’s ropefish, gimme those lil snakes

ROPEFISH 🥺🥺🥺 MY LOVES...

i would die for a ropefish.... in the same vein the only monster fish that I've ever put in a heart shaped locket is a birchir. they're even among the smaller monster fish so they're not THAT unattainable, i say, foolishly, longingly (and before anyone gets irresponsible ideas when i say "smaller" i mean 1-2 feet minimum lol, still a monster)

then ever since having my kribs and seeing how cool and intelligent they are, the dream cichlid is a blood parrot AND I KNOW, THEY'RE ASSHOLES, but looooook at itttt.......wawer puppy.... I'd want one in its own big tank as a wet pet

but those are the highly unlikely gets, the top of my realistic wishlist is pretty stereotypical: pea puffers 🥹

they're a perfect mix of attainable + new challenge + omg omg omg cuuuute!!!!!!! it's honestly puffers in general that i desperately wanna try, large puffers are equally adorable to me... if I'm at an aquarium they're my number 2 after arapaima, i could watch a big puffer toot around for hours. they're so visibly intelligent it's amazing!

[metalgearemily]

my schools ropefish :)

[picturesoffishandotherthings]

Dropped some of their favorite food in one corner. ^^

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Using phylogeny to horribly warp the definition of a fish, my favourite fish is probably the binturong (Although all procyonids are also incredible). There's just something great about a mid-sized feliform with a semi-prehensile tail and a smell of popcorn about it. Plus they sometimes look like haggard old men and it's fantastic. Using fish to mean things people classically refer to as fish, I love polypterids (Bichir) etc. I love the fact some of them can move around on land, I love how basal they are to all the other ray finned fish (Nothing against other ray finned fish, there's just something charming about lonely branches on the tree of life to me), I love their shapes, I love the fact reedfish/ropefish look like they're smiling. I love the fact they (and everyone walking past) will side eye me if I baby talk them at my nearest aquarist. A tier fish, one day I will live in a place large enough to have one.

Fine tetrapod and true fish choices! Bichirs are cool fish indeed, I don’t think I appreciate them enough for just how cool they are; they even have lungs!! I’ll need to research them a bit more, it’s clear, and spread bichir joy in the world.

Binturong joy, too. Unappreciated animals deserve recognition! Plus they literally look like this:

If the Muskrat from the Moomins wasn’t already a, you know, muskrat…. He should’ve been this. 100%. Perfect nihilistic philosopher.

[unholyxvoid]

Favorite animal?

hi sewph ! that is a question i never have a solid answer to bc i love a lot of animals lmao

cats dogs birds horses & snakes are probably at the top , honorable mentions for fish & snails

for cats its generally house cats but i do also love some bigger cats , mostly snow leopards . the rest are okay but you wont rlly see me talking abt them lmao

with dogs i mean most canines so domesticated dogs , wolves , foxes , coyotes and so on , though domestic dogs and wolves are my favorite , especially big ones

birds , i love a lot of them , vultures (fav bearded vulture) , corvids (fav crows&ravens) & owls (fav eagle owls) are definitely up there but i also love parrots (caiques are so silly love them) and tiny birds (ouhh sparrows !!)

i love most if not all horses , especially any with feathering . big drafts and elegant dressage horses are just . yes . if theres anything i Dont like about specific horses its either a too concave (arabian) or too convex (sometimes clydesdale) nose bridges but other than that i love all horses & ponies . dont get me started on coat colors lmao

snakes . uhh . dont think theres a snake i dont like . pretty noodles lmao not much else to say ig . they are very shape and shine

everyone already knows i like fish even if theyre not in my favorites , but tbh they very well could be . big shoutout to long noodle fish (eels !! eels my beloved ! eels & ropefish & khulies) and pretty flowy finned fish (bettas & similarly fancy finned fish lmao) . that being said there are definitely fish i dont rlly care much abt . what the fuck is a sunfish . i like how fucking stupid it is but thats about it lol

snails . not much to say again . small or big , any colors , any shape house . love snails they are so cute . and slimy hskfbs

[crow-with-a-knife]

ITS A LITTLE LESS FUNNY WHEN YOU HAVE SHRIMP ON YOUR FLOOR WHO THEN JUMP AWAY WHEN YOU TRY AND PICK THEM UP AND PUT THEM BACK

NO ONE FUCKIN TOLD ME SHRIMP LIKE TO JUMP???

[bestanimal]

Lungfish propaganda! This is Nessie (like lochness monster) she was my first indoor aquarium fish I got her because she was being picked on at the pet store. You need to have an extremely tight lid with ropefish they are wanderers. I don’t have her anymore; they quickly outgrow standard 40 gallon aquariums (they grow to 2 feet long) but she was so personable, loved to be hand fed and just sit in my hand as if it was a turtle dock (which I recommend getting them one since in the wild they will snatch prey from the shore line at night and have been recorded hunting out of the water on the river banks). Also they love to burrow which I didn’t know until I had her for that short period of time so sand or half gravel with a sand bottom digging area of the tank is recommended.

Oh and Nesise was a food stealing brat 😂 she would always try to steal from my mystery snail Merlin when I would give him blood worm treats. 😂

Ropefish are actually Actinopterygiians (see her little ray fins in that last pic) so I will consider this propaganda for them, but she is so cute!