Mystery Fish

[Dan J]

Hello all. Just setting up a reef tank for the first time. We went for the instant gratification of getting "the package" from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Two days in and ammonia levels are still way below 1 ppm. We're enjoying discovering all the hitchikers that came with the rock, though some we will eventually have to remove. We were surprised to find one live fish in our bag of sand. It is mostly black and white, primarily spotted on the front half and vertically striped on the back half. We are trying to identify it before we get to the point of adding new fish as we would hate to have it attack any new neighbors. I'm pasting in the best picture I've got. I'll update if I get a better one. The fish is probably a little under two inches.
Any ideas people have about the ID would be welcome. For what it is worth the fish is presumably native to the gulf coast of Florida. Thanks!

P.S. The fish's name is Grover.

 

[GHsaltie]

Sand perch maybe, or something similar? Just throwing it out there, I honestly don't know .

 

[spscubed]

Looks like wrasse to me

 

[Vincent100]

Iv no idea but thats cool getting a fish as a hitchhiker
The first one of that size iv seen
Hope Grover is friendly so he can stay , this poor fish must of been through alot
I get crabs and pest anemones lol and you get fish lol

 

[GHsaltie]

Maybe you could send Richard an email and see if he has an idea of what it may be.

 

[Rybren]

Looks like it might be a wrasse to me too. @evolved @eatbreakfast

 

[DeniseAndy]

wrasse or basslet. Could be good or bad. I hope someone had some better input than this. Pretty cool hitchhiker though. Must be a bullet proof fish!

 

[Maritimer]

Looks just like another fish I saw recently, which came out of Tampa Bay sand, and IIRC, was identified as a sandperch.

Also looks predatory. (>_<)

~Bruce

 

[Dan J]

Thanks all who commented. Just got an email from Richard from Tampa Bay Saltwater. He identified Grover as a Belted Sand Baslet. Still have to find out if he will get along with aquarium fish. In the meantime he is making our initial cycle much more interesting.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Serranus subligarius

 

[Dan J]

Serranus subligarius

Thanks Bongo. Once Richard pointed us in that direction, we got a photo of Serranus S. Definitely a dead ringer for Grover

 

[mkutsch]

How big's your tank?
Also, this is something reallllllllllllllly cool;you're lucky! ;]
Any corals? Cause I'm 82.6% positive that that area's like a Catalina goby's temp.... (my geography skills have dwindled) So, probably a preferred subtrop temp...

 

[mkutsch]

Also, I'm pretty sure it gets about 2x bigger. Seen one of em in a subtrop tank before.

 

[skybears]

Hi I just wanted to stop by and say welcome to leave to leave here you will find a group of people that have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience through everybody's saltwater Endeavors I'm very excited for you with your new tank and the journey you're starting on the site you'll find hours and hours of threads if you're just curious. It's amazing I can get lost reading so much I'm glad you found your new home and we've tried again welcome and enjoy everything the site has to offer

 

[lauderdalestunner]

 

[lauderdalestunner]

My guess on the fish ID. This one was bugging me

 

[mkutsch]

No, thats it, you're right... the thing bugging me is the IUCN Red List... Is it legal to keep such an endangered species?

 

[mkutsch]

If not, it would suck if it died! Heheh, joking, but seriously, What are you going to do?

 

[Maritimer]

"IUCN Redlist Category: Not Evaluated"

This fish hasn't been properly studied for the IUCN. Likely because it's pretty common.

~Bruce, who doesn't actually know how common or rare these guys are . . .

 

[mkutsch]

My eyes deceive me!!
-I thought it said critically wups!