Hemanthias vivanus is a deepwater anthias species that is found throughout the Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico, south to Brazil. It is a rare offering in the industry due to the extreme depths it lives at–collection usually takes place at 300 to 450ft, but they have been observed at depths greater than 2,500ft thanks [...]
Hemanthias vivanus is a deepwater anthias species that is found throughout the Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico, south to Brazil. It is a rare offering in the industry due to the extreme depths it lives at–collection usually takes place at 300 to 450ft, but they have been observed at depths greater than 2,500ft thanks to remote operated subs. Few are collected, but those that do make their way into aquariums are usually via Forrest Young’s crew at Dynasty Marine.
Most of Forrest’s fish make their way to Asia–The first specimen above currently resides at BBox Japan. The ones shown below were sent to Koji Wada at Blue Harbor. In Japan Hemanthias vivanus retails for USD $300-600 depending on the specimen and size.
Hemanthias vivanus can reach lengths of just under one foot, however, most of those that are collected are smaller. This is beneficial because, generally speaking, smaller juvenile fish adapt better to captivity–however in this case, it is the large males that have the most vibrant coloration. Be sure to check out this link to a great photo showing off a large shoal of H. vivanus living inside the USS Monitor–the first iron clad warship to be commissioned by the Navy which is now part of mother nature, residing 16 nautical miles southeast of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.
Another deepwater Atlantic Anthias is Pronotogrammus martinicensis (f/k/a Holanthias martinicensis). This anthias, more commonly known as the Rough Tongued Bass, was originally classified in the Holanthias genus along with the Borbonius and Fuscipinnis Anthias. It has since been moved to the Pronotogrammus genus. In our opinion it shares some physical characteristics with the Tosoanoids anthias, such as Tosanoides flavofasciatus. The most striking feature of Pronotogrammus martinicensis is its glowing green-blue eyes as seen in the specimen above–which is currently for sale at Blue Harbor @ USD $2,000.
[Thanks Koji]
