Anyone ever had a (deep sea) lantern fish?

[shootingstar_reef]

Just saw this tweet that made it sound like lantern fish could be found in the hobby, but I haven't seen or heard of them....has anyone else

 

[Tired]

Flashlight fish are very rarely kept because they require cold water, large tanks, and need almost complete darkness most of the time. Their blinky patches stop glowing if they're kept in too much light. I've seen them at the Atlanta Aquarium, in a special, dim setup. Just enough light to see the outlines of their bodies. They'd probably be really expensive to get ahold of, and hard to house, but it is possible. I've seen occasional discussion of them, though I don't remember where. Googling "flashlight fish aquarium Reef2Reef" and the same with ReefCentral might pull up some results, or directly searching it on the forums in question.

(and that post is wrong. Flashlight fish don't blink; no fish do, except, arguably, mudskippers. No fish have eyelids. Mudskippers can 'blink' their eyes down into pockets of water underneath each eye, which is basically a blink. Flashlight fish don't do that. The patches of light aren't eyes anyway.)

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

I'd be very surprised if they could withstand the difference in pressure without having major issues...

 

[Tired]

I've seen them in person, alive, and that does appear to be a group of them in an aquarium in the video. It's possible to bring fish up from impressive depths if done over the course of days, and these guys don't live quite down in the "everything is ridiculous and nothing is fish-shaped" zone alongside things like deepsea anglerfish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Just saw this tweet that made it sound like lantern fish could be found in the hobby, but I haven't seen or heard of them....has anyone else

I've worked with flashlight fish for many years. They are my favorite fish. I even had one in a ten gallon tank in my apartment in Chicago. Here is a link to an article that I wrote on them:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/flashlight-fish-in-captivity.777/
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I'd be very surprised if they could withstand the difference in pressure without having major issues...

They are collected on moonless nights, when they rise to the surface and can be collected at about 30' deep water. During the day, or when the moon is out, they stay hidden in coral caves.

Jay

 

[shootingstar_reef]

I've worked with flashlight fish for many years. They are my favorite fish. I even had one in a ten gallon tank in my apartment in Chicago. Here is a link to an article that I wrote on them:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/flashlight-fish-in-captivity.777/
Jay

oh wow this is very cool Jay! I can see why they're so rare in the trade, haha

 

[Tired]

If I had enough money to throw it at whatever I wanted, I might try keeping flashlight fish. Though it might work better to just sponsor an exhibit of them at a local public aquarium, on the condition that I can come look at them whenever I want. They really are cool to watch.