What's that fish

Charlie Coco · Mar 3, 2016

Hi all, I am new to both your forum and fish keeping and I would like some help to indentify a small fish I found in shallow water here in the south of France ( Mediterranean Sea ). It is about 2 inches long and spends most of its time sitting on the bottom, it sometimes walks a little with its fin/legs. I have tried feeding it tiny live shrimp and plankton neither of which it seems to eat. If I can not identify it and get it eating I shall return it to the sea. Thanks in adance, Charlie.

JMacedo · Mar 3, 2016

It looks like a juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus) in a bad shape (damaged fins)... or a cousin as its body seems to be longer than usual.

clownfish chris · Mar 3, 2016

Welcome!!! Sorry, I have no idea on the fish. I would return him to his home without knowing what he needs.

jetmaker · Mar 3, 2016

Charlie Coco said:
Hi all, I am new to both your forum and fish keeping and I would like some help to indentify a small fish I found in shallow water here in the south of France ( Mediterranean Sea ). It is about 2 inches long and spends most of its time sitting on the bottom, it sometimes walks a little with its fin/legs. I have tried feeding it tiny live shrimp and plankton neither of which it seems to eat. If I can not identify it and get it eating I shall return it to the sea. Thanks in adance, Charlie.

Looks like a wrasse probably a pod eater. You may have to buy some copapods

ZoaCollector · Mar 3, 2016

Looks like some type of kelpfish I think they're subtropical fish.

eatbreakfast · Mar 3, 2016

Look into the genus Paraclinus, it is a shallow water blenny. There are a number of species, some tropical, some subtropical, some temperate.

Charlie Coco · Mar 3, 2016

I googled rock mover wrasse and found a photo of a fish with the same head, eye and tail, the body on mine is a bit longer but I'm thinking that's a match. It might be that it's a nocturnal feeder, that would explain why the shrimp population is dwindling. That's to everyone for your help and good fishing.

Charlie Coco · Mar 3, 2016

Here's a better picture of its head

4FordFamily · Mar 3, 2016

That's not a wrasse, I agree with @eatbreakfast

eatbreakfast · Mar 3, 2016

That fish is without a doubt, NOT a rockmover wrasse. It is a Paraclinus sp.

evolved · Mar 3, 2016

^+100

Charlie Coco · Mar 3, 2016

I was fairly sure it was a wrasse, now I'm positive it's a blenny. Thanks again, Charlie.

Bongo Shrimp · Mar 3, 2016

Not Paraclinus sp., it's actually Clinitrachus argenatus.

Charlie Coco · Mar 3, 2016

Bingo Bongo, that's my fish, thank you very much

Bongo Shrimp · Mar 3, 2016

Charlie Coco said:
Bingo Bongo, that's my fish, thank you very much

You're welcome! It's a pretty awesome fish.

clownfish chris · Mar 3, 2016

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20537030

It looks like it eats mainly copepods similar to a mandarin untill it reached about 4cm in length when it switches to larger prey. You could train him to eat mysis at that point.

Charlie Coco · Mar 10, 2016

Bongo Shrimp said:
You're welcome! It's a pretty awesome fish.

Bongo I just bagged another one, if you want it and you can fathom a means of transport from me to you its yours. Charlie

ps:the fish not the shrimp.

Bongo Shrimp · Mar 10, 2016

Charlie Coco said:
Bongo I just bagged another one, if you want it and you can fathom a means of transport from me to you its yours. Charlie ps:the fish not the shrimp.

Wow thank you for the offer! Unfortunately my tanks are pretty full right now so I don't have room. Maybe your first guy would like a friend?