Juvenile French Angel collected locally

[bjgf15]

I caught this little guy on a dive I did last weekend on rig about 26 miles off Port A.
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/bgemmell/IMG_1383Small.jpg

I often see Juvenile French and Blue angels on these rigs and with a special net designed to catch tropical ornamentals (clear acrylic rim with clear monofilament mesh) I was able to collect several of each on a single dive.

Collecting these fish is one of the few instances where there is ABSOLUTELY NO effect on natural populations since these juveniles settle out during the warm summer months but are too close to the coast to survive the winters where water temperatures drop too low for most tropical species. This is supported by the fact that I have never seen an adult french angel on one of those rigs but always see juveniles in the summer.

He/She took to aquarium life VERY quickly. Within a couple hours it was already eating brine, mysis and pellets.

[hobogato]

very cool, do you think we could get these to breed in captivity? might be cool to try in my classroom program since they are local....

[Squiers007]

bjgf, have you ever thought that maybe the adults leave the rigs in search of other habitats and that the rigs only serve as nurseries for the juveniles? Just becuase you dont see the adults there in the summer does not mean that you are not effecting their populations elsewhere.

[bjgf15]

very cool, do you think we could get these to breed in captivity? might be cool to try in my classroom program since they are local....

These have been bred in captivity as long ago as the 1970s. http://hubpages.com/hub/French-Angelfish (check out the bottom of the webpage)

I would imagine that it would take several years before the juveniles became sexually mature and that you would need a REALLY big tank to induce a spawn. Plus there is the added difficulty of raising the young which are released into the water column as eggs, not spawned demersally like clownfish, many damsels, gobies etc.

one species that might be really good for a classroom is the tesselated blenny. It stays pretty small, is local, colorful and I believe spawns inside of empty barnacle shells.

here is a pic I took of one on the same rig I collected the french angel
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/bgemmell/IMG_0675Small.jpg

[ErikH]

Very cool please keep posting!

[bjgf15]

bjgf, have you ever thought that maybe the adults leave the rigs in search of other habitats and that the rigs only serve as nurseries for the juveniles? Just becuase you dont see the adults there in the summer does not mean that you are not effecting their populations elsewhere.

haha, I knew someone would ask this... Thank you.

The short answer is no, they do not leave the rigs.

Reef associated fish such as the French angel have been shown in tagging studies (Australia, Fiji, Belize, Bimini etc...) to maintain a very narrow home range once they settle out of the plankton.

Additionally, these fish are actually very poor swimmers in open water and it would be very energetically expensive to set out into the open ocean, alone, hoping to stumble across a more suitable habitat. There would be a very low probability of finding a more conducive habitat.

Also, if you have ever dove an offshore rig, I’m sure you would have noticed the several barracuda or Jacks following you around on your dive hoping you will scare an easy meal out into open water. These predators continually patrol the rigs in search of weak, injured fish or fish that have ventured a little too far away from the safety of the structure.

Although I cannot provide specific literature on French angelfish and rigs and since I see you are also in the world of academia, if you would like, contact me by PM and I will gladly provide you with a list of primary scientific literature that supports the idea that these fish would not leave the rig.

[ReefCube]

does hr nip at corals?

[Mr Cob]

Very cool. What else have you found? Love the thread.

[bjgf15]

does hr nip at corals?

French angels are generally considered not reef safe but I have seen pictures of these fish in large reef tanks before. I would imagine you would have to pick inverts carefully though as they will definitely pick at some stuff.

[bjgf15]

Very cool. What else have you found? Love the thread.

Thanks.

I have found a pretty surprising variety of Caribbean species on the offshore rigs in the Gulf.

Here is a quick list of species broken down by how commonly I've seen them and the minimum distance from land at which I have observed them:

Very common:

spanish hogfish - 8 miles
cocoa damsel - Port A jetties
Tesselated blenny - Port A jetties
Molly Miller blenny - Port A jetties
lookdown - Port A jetties
spadefish - Port A jetties
gray trigger - Port A jetties
sergeant major damsel - Port A jetties
dusky damsel - Port A jetties
bicolor damsel - 8 miles
Rock hind grouper- Port A jetties

Common:

slippery wrasse - Port A jetties
French Angel juv - as close as the Port A Jetties but commonly at 15 miles
Blue Angel juv - 8 miles offshore
Blue Angel Adult - 35 miles
blue head wrasse - 25 miles
creolefish - 55 miles
orange spotted filefish - 25 miles
sharpnose puffer - 55 miles

Rare:

Atlantic blue tang (juv and adult) - 55 miles (v.rare)
creole wrasse - 55 miles
sargassum trigger - 60 miles
scrawled filefish - Port A jetties
spiny box puffer - Port A jetties

[Squiers007]

bjgf, Thanks for the response. I'm not much of a fish biology guy, but I know that is the case with some fish. I'm curious what you do for a living and what your educational background is? I primarily work on Coral genetics and coral reef ecology.

[Kristy]

Great discussion. That tasselated blenny is sweet!

[hobogato]

i agree k (or m?)

i may have to get with you bjgf15 and find out how i could get a couple of them to put into the breeding program.....

[Kristy]

That was Kristy. I always sign my name after everything I post so people will know it is me. However, I also think the blenny is cool. :) - Mike

[bjgf15]

bjgf, Thanks for the response. I'm not much of a fish biology guy, but I know that is the case with some fish. I'm curious what you do for a living and what your educational background is? I primarily work on Coral genetics and coral reef ecology.

No problem,
I am finishing my PhD at UT's Marine Science Institute and I work on Predator/prey interactions among reef fish and planktonic prey.

[bjgf15]

i agree k (or m?)

i may have to get with you bjgf15 and find out how i could get a couple of them to put into the breeding program.....

Sure, shoot me a PM. They are very easy to collect.

[bjgf15]

In case anynone hasn't had the opportunity to see one of these little French angels in person, here is a video I shot that shows their unique and conspicous swimming pattern. It is much like that of percula clownfish and may be a way (in conjunction with their color pattern) to advertise their 'services' to other fish, as they are cleaners when juveniles. They later switch to a diet of algae, sponges, tunicates etc as adults.
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/bgemmell/th_MVI_1412.jpg (http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/bgemmell/?action=view&current=MVI_1412.flv)

[allan]

Wow, he likes to move doesn't he? Is that movement to prevent being a meal or is it just the way they have to swim at the rig to stay near it?

[bjgf15]

Wow, he likes to move doesn't he? Is that movement to prevent being a meal or is it just the way they have to swim at the rig to stay near it?

My guess is that since they clean parasites off of larger fish such as groupers, the conspicuous swimming pattern combined with the very conspicuous coloration is to attract the attention of larger fish to the ‘cleaning station’ that they set up. The fish lose both the coloration and strange swimming pattern when they switch their diet to sponges, tunicates and algae as late juveniles and adults.

[Roo&Lis]

its almost like its dancing

[bjgf15]

Here is a picture I took of a juvenile French angel cleaning a rockhind grouper
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab269/bgemmell/IMG_0635Small.jpg

[allan]

its almost like its dancing


My wife would tell you that I dance much in the same fashion as this fish does... :)

[Marlin]

I've seen many juvenile French angels while diving in Cozumel and they swim like that all the time.

Rick

[msmith619]

If you have another trip lined up and happen to collect another juvenile French angel, I would love to put one in my 125 tank. They are my favorite angelfish. I can donate to offset the collection expenses.

[bjgf15]

If you have another trip lined up and happen to collect another juvenile French angel, I would love to put one in my 125 tank. They are my favorite angelfish. I can donate to offset the collection expenses.

I'm not sure that I'll be out again this year since winds are starting to pick up already this fall and the Gulf is no fun when there is 4-7ft chop. If I do go, I will collect some more fish before the water temperature drops too low and kills them off.

[Squiers007]

Very cool, when will you be finishing? I would love to come watch your dissertation defense. I just started the Ph.D. program at TAMUCC in Marine Biology so I've got a couple years to go, but its always nice to meet others in the area that share my interests in aquaria as well as marine biology.


No problem,
I am finishing my PhD at UT's Marine Science Institute and I work on Predator/prey interactions among reef fish and planktonic prey.

[dmweise]

After watching that video I think I know how you caught him. He seems to need some sort of physical therapy to show him how to swim properly.

Has he always swam like that? My dwarf angels do not move a lot like that when swimming.

[bjgf15]

After watching that video I think I know how you caught him. He seems to need some sort of physical therapy to show him how to swim properly.

Has he always swam like that? My dwarf angels do not move a lot like that when swimming.

Yes, the fish has always swam like that, as have all the other juvenile french angels I have ever seen. I did not target a handicapped fish (which by the way would have been eaten long before becoming a juvenile) ;)
And trust me, they are no easier to catch than any other fish on the rig. They can move very fast when they want to. Your pygmy angel is in a completely different genus than the French angelfish so no surprise that they would swim differently

I actually eluded to their unusual swimming pattern in a earlier post on this thread.

[dmweise]

Yes, the fish has always swam like that, as have all the other juvenile french angels I have ever seen. I did not target a handicapped fish (which by the way would have been eaten long before becoming a juvenile) ;)
And trust me, they are no easier to catch than any other fish on the rig. They can move very fast when they want to. Your pygmy angel is in a completely different genus than the French angelfish so no surprise that they would swim differently

I actually eluded to their unusual swimming pattern in a earlier post on this thread.

I found the following video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvyA9x6Nb7I

Your angel swims a lot like one of the ones here. Seems like it may be a natural swim pattern for some of them at a certain age.

[Crazyeyes]

That is very cool what you do, surprised that you haven't found a toad fish or a stone fish there at port a.