Got Anglers?

[Mr Cob]

Took the family to Port A this weekend, rained Friday night, water cloudy and choppy Saturday night....wife suggests we go back Sunday despite my refusal to go and the fact that is was the middle of the day (I was completely confident that we could catch NADA)...

BUT...

A woman's intuition always proves to be superior:

Here's a shot of one of the large Sargassum Anglers.... (we caught sizes from half an inch to 5 inches!!! We met a local named Chris who is also a member on MAAST but I forget his ID. Anyways we had a great time hunting with him :) Thanks, Chris!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/4615387909_aa5bfe43d7.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4616000842_f76a8d02b5.jpg

Sargassum Seaweed with Anglers below (they blend so well!)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4615383581_738c2c5992.jpg

Only anglers in this pic...no seaweed... (Chris' bucket)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/4615381309_e17688e180.jpg

We also caught Broken Back Shrimp (they look like sexy shrimp?), Several Mollie Miller Blennies (both small and large), a couple of nudi-branches, a pipefish and some damsels. I also threw back a bunch. It was crazy...all this in the middle of the day.

We saw the sargassum out in the channel and just waited a couple of hours for it to hit shore and the stuff was full of life!

For those not aware....these anglers have a short lived life once they wash up on our shores and their natural habitat of sargassum seaweed dwindles out. It's a shame because they are such beautiful fish.

It was extremely amazing to just sit and watch the sargassum seaweed "raft" and all it's life. If you just stare at it a bit, like we do our home reefs, you can see all kinds of things moving around in it.

I had a great time and so pleased that we went back out on Sunday. We spent the entire day out on the jetties and the boys had a blast!

[Mr Cob]

Really interesting to read about the anglers and their habitat:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/22/734537/-Marine-Life-Series:-Sargassum-Fish

Quotes from the link above:

"Out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is a roughly million-square-mile area known as the Sargasso Sea. On the surface of this sea is an enormous mat of entangled, floating algae, kept in place by a combination of ocean currents and lack of winds. The movement of the currents which surround this sea, including the Gulf Stream, the Equatorial, the Canary and the Caribbean, collude to entrap anything that floats into this area and keep it, mostly, from escaping."

"They are so dependent on the sargassum that if a clump of weeds is pushed out of the Sargasso Sea and into the Gulf Stream Current by tropical storms, the fish will remain with its cover for weeks or months at a time, giving it a chance to flow all the way to our shores. I've found some still clinging to weed remnants barely larger than itself. In fact, if the weed is washed ashore, the fish will die on the beach with its host rather than abandon it."

[tebstan]

Wow! Very cool, thanks for sharing. Anglers fascinate me.




We also caught Broken Back Shrimp (they look like sexy shrimp?), :lmao2:

[allan]

Nice rob, they do well in an aquarium?

[Mr Cob]

Wow! Very cool, thanks for sharing. Anglers fascinate me.



Thanks! They are cool fish!


Nice rob, they do well in an aquarium?

Yes, if they are fed but not overfed. Also they should be in a species specific tank or predator tank. They do not eat corals but will eat any fish up to twice it's size.

[Mr Cob]

Jack, this one is yours.....he was the biggest and I had to separate him...he was eating the little ones...and fighting the bigger ones.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3361/4615387909_aa5bfe43d7.jpg

[txav8r]

Awesome Rob!!

Did you take any pics of the shrimp?

[RayAllen]

Very cool! I was thinking of putting one in the 180 FOWLR. Not sure if triggers will pick on them though like they do lion fish.

[roscozman]

Cool Rob. Do you know if there are any peppermint shrimp on the jetties at night yet?

[hobogato]

Cool Rob. Do you know if there are any peppermint shrimp on the jetties at night yet?

i got about 20 two weeks ago.

[Double-O-Zilch]

Those guys are pretty cool! Maybe I should set up my 14 BC for one of these instead of the Fu Manchu Lion I was thinking about.

[Jarob]

Those guys are huge!! I went out and caught a few small ones anout 1-2" a few days ago, but put them back in on some sargassum. I kept one for a small tank I have, he is so small I didnt even notice him until one of my friends pointed it out, about the size of my pinky fingernail. He has been doing good for a week and a half so far!

[Mr Cob]

Awesome Rob!!

Did you take any pics of the shrimp?

No, sorry dude. Hope the angler works out well for you. Let me know how he does.


Cool Rob. Do you know if there are any peppermint shrimp on the jetties at night yet?

That's what I went out there for and didn't see a one. The water was cloudy and choppy until Sunday afternoon...but it was stormy...so.....


i got about 20 two weeks ago.

I was really hoping to score some peppermints....but the sargassum experience was SUPER cool. I learned a lot on this trip. Kind of forced myself into some research.


Those guys are pretty cool! Maybe I should set up my 14 BC for one of these instead of the Fu Manchu Lion I was thinking about.

Kind of hard to pass up an opportunity on a Fu Manchu....but these Sargassum Anglers are just as fascinating....plus you would be giving them a second chance at life.


Those guys are huge!! I went out and caught a few small ones anout 1-2" a few days ago, but put them back in on some sargassum. I kept one for a small tank I have, he is so small I didnt even notice him until one of my friends pointed it out, about the size of my pinky fingernail. He has been doing good for a week and a half so far!

I have never seem them this size! Also caught some baby ones too....I'd say half the babies we caught were eaten by the bigger ones though :(

I dropped the remaining anglers off at the LFS today. If anyone is interested in knowing what LFS...just PM me.

[nubz]

Nice rob, as for you RayAllen, yes triggers will pick on them, unless they're the reef safe types( bluechins, crosshatches, Sargassum) i will get pics of the shrimp in my tank soon.... by the way im Chris! if anybodies coming to port A give me a PM and maybe we can meet up on the jetties for some collecting. went snorkeling for the first time this season, saw moslty just blennies but i also saw a few high-hats and a slippery **** wrasse (halichoeres bivvatus) by the way googling sargassum shrimp leads to far better results than just broken back shrimp

[txav8r]

I found a shrimp in the sargassum that I got from Rob! Double score!!

Hey Chris! Rob said that you were a collecting machine! He bragged about you the whole time while I was picking up my angler.

[ramsey]

OUt of curiosity, where exactly do you guys find stuff? I got the jetty thing. Any other places to check? I try to make it to Port A once a year and I'd love to see what kind of cool stuff I can find. I've found pygmy seahorses and nudibranches in sea weed but that's about it. I really want to go now!

[Double-O-Zilch]

I think the next time I go the fishing poles will remain here. Instead I'll have a bunch of nets, a mask, a snorkel and rope tied to shore so I don't drift out to sea!

[Mr Cob]

....by the way googling sargassum shrimp leads to far better results than just broken back shrimp

Thanks for the tip. Much easier. Dude...we had a blast man! I still can't believe we found so many Anglers. It was cool bringing in the nets and going through all the sargassum. you da man Chris. My son Zion is still talking about the trip. He was so cute helping us go through the sargassum shirtless....he looked like a local.


I found a shrimp in the sargassum that I got from Rob! Double score!!

Hey Chris! Rob said that you were a collecting machine! He bragged about you the whole time while I was picking up my angler.

Score! Let me know how he does. I put a couple in my tank...I picked out a couple with white spots on them. They look pretty cool and I haven't seen them yet in the tank. I also haven't seen the little molly miller blenny. In the past these guys were always hyper and seen all over the place when added to my tank.


OUt of curiosity, where exactly do you guys find stuff? I got the jetty thing. Any other places to check? I try to make it to Port A once a year and I'd love to see what kind of cool stuff I can find. I've found pygmy seahorses and nudibranches in sea weed but that's about it. I really want to go now!

The jetties dude! If you see any sargassum seaweed floating in, it's worth waiting for it to hit the shore. I have also gotten lots of small snails in the sea grass under the bridges too. Be careful of the whelks though. They will kill other snails and munch on clam mantles.


I think the next time I go the fishing poles will remain here. Instead I'll have a bunch of nets, a mask, a snorkel and rope tied to shore so I don't drift out to sea!

For real man! LOL! PM Chris to meet you out there too. He's good company. He's very energetic about the ocean and all it's life. Very cool to find a young saltwater reefer. I enjoyed just talking fish with him.

[nubz]

well thanks rob, i really need to take a picture of the shrimp i caught two weeks ago, its almost all white, looks alot like a sexy shrimp minus the pink markings, also if anybody wants to trade some corals for some porcelean crabs i will gladly do so!!!

[ramsey]

The jetties dude! If you see any sargassum seaweed floating in, it's worth waiting for it to hit the shore. I have also gotten lots of small snails in the sea grass under the bridges too. Be careful of the whelks though. They will kill other snails and munch on clam mantles.



Awesome, I REALLY REALLY want to go to Port A now. I also start getting the desire around this time but now I want way worse. On that note, does anyone know if the sand dollar urchins are reef safe?