Here’s a bittersweet video. I stongly disagree with their skewed message, however, as fellow aquarist and friend Mike C. pointed out to us, at ~ 3:45 there is a brief glimpse of a female Genicanthus personatus in the wild! I am sure the makers of this video did not imagine that saltwater aquarists would be [...]
Here’s a bittersweet video. I stongly disagree with their skewed message, however, as fellow aquarist and friend Mike C. pointed out to us, at ~ 3:45 there is a brief glimpse of a female Genicanthus personatus in the wild! I am sure the makers of this video did not imagine that saltwater aquarists would be watching it for that reason…
In addition to G. personatus they show Chaetodon tinkeri being collected and needled. Some of the footage is interesting, the audio is a completely different situation. Click here to view this video in High Quality.
Richard Pyle has observed this fish in large harems of up to 20 with 5:1 female to male ratios. We can only see a single female, but odds are others were nearby.
Around the main Hawaiian islands G. personatus is typically found deeper than 80m. The clip doesn’t appear that deep, making me guess that it was likely taken at the Northwestern Islands, such as Midway, where this species is found in much shallower waters, but collecting it prohibited.
It is just a quick glimpse, so here’s some better eye candy. The fading black facial markings and yellow pelvic fins may be hinting at a sexual change in the fish? Age plays a large role in markings, but this has been observed by aquarists where many Genicanthus species have gone from male to female and even female to male.
