#sandperch

[i-give-you-a-fish]

🎵 If I had just one last wish, I would like a tasty fish🎵 (hello! May I have a fish, please?)

You get a Spotted Sandperch

Parapercis hexophtalma

[momoya-wurst]

The Guh

[artistsanimals]

From: Dictionnaire pottoresque d’historie naturelle et des phénomènes de la nature by Guérin-Méneville, F.-E. (Félix-Edouard) Published: 1839, Paris Source: Archive.org

[i-give-you-a-fish]

Most likely to be a dark souls boss

From the name alone I think this guy has a good shot at it. Maybe some kind of trypiphobic bug-themed creature/living hive

Idk i’ve never darked on those souls

You get a Thousand-Spot Grubfish

Parapercis millepunctata

[i-give-you-a-fish]

can i have a little feeshy please ::::3

Feeshy upon ye

You get a Speckled Sandperch

Parapercis hexophtalma

[i-give-you-a-fish]

Saw the other ask and could I also get a semester companion. For my wallpapers schedule etc and for my joy

Of course, little guy for ye

You get a Speckled Sandperch

Parapercis hexophtalma

[aquariuminfobureau]

Sandperches

Today I was, asked about an unusual, bottom dwelling fish traded as a 'lizard blenny'. In fact the fish in question, is known properly as a, sandperch, or Parapercis sp. These, are not a staple import of the marine aquarium trade, so it's unsurprising they are misunderstood to be blennies, and mistraded as such. Another trade name for sandperches, are the sandhopper blennies, though they are emphatically not blennies.

Sandperches are fortunately hardy carnivores, harmless to corals and tridacnid clams, but unfortunately prone to eating their fish and shrimp tankmates. This is in marked contrast to the benthic blennies, that are predominantly algivorous or detrivorous.

Sandperch lack a swim bladder, and as such rest on the substrate. In the wild, they inhabit areas of sand or rubble. This demersal nature is the habit that confuses aquarists, into misidentifying them as blennies. You should consider these ambush predators, more as you would a hawkfish.

The matured size of these fishes unfortunately varies by species, yet the species is unlikely to be identified, at the point of retail. One species I have identified in the trade, P. schauinslandii, the red spotted sandperch, grows to 18 centimeters, or a little beyond 7 inches. However other Parapercis from tropical waters, potentially grow to 'nearly a foot' or short of 30 centimeters. A fish this size may be characterful, but a danger to very small tankmates. They can be fed on defrosted, meaty fare of the sort usually intended, for crustacean- and fish-eating fishes.

I'm actually fond of the sandperch clade, and do not wish to disuade other aquarists from keeping the characterful genus. Other than to caution that they are mis-sold as blennies, even though their dietary habits are dissimilar, and some popular reef tank staples will not be safe when there is a big sandperch lurking around.

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Speckled Sandperch (Parapercis hexophtalma)

...a species of sandperch (Pinguipedidae) that is known to inhabit shallow waters on the east coast of Africa as far south as Natal, the Red Sea and the western Indo Pacific. Its range extends as far east as Sumatra, and includes the Maldives, the Laccadives, and Sri Lanka. They are typically known to inhabit sandy or rubble subtrates in areas sheltered by reefs. Speckled sandperches are predatory in nature, feeding on a range of small crustaceans, and other invertebrates. They are also known to take small fish. 

Classification

Animalia-Chordata-Actinopterygii-Perciformes-Pinguipedidae-Parapercis-P. hexophtalma

Image: Richard Ling