Ever wonder if it would look like someone crossed an Anglerfish and a Flounder? Us too. Our guess is that this hypothetical franken-fish would look uncannily like Ogcocephalus corniger, which you may (or may not) recognize by the more common name, Walking Longnose Batfish. While it does walk, and does have a long nose, it certainly bears no resemblance to any of the other fish called “Bat,” and is unlikely in the extreme be called upon to fight the villains of Gotham. This fish acts mostly like an Angler, living on the bottom and walking / running about. They also have an esca, which is the little “lure” they use to tempt small fish into getting close enough to snack on. Though the WLB can retract their esca entirely into their head, a trick that Anglers haven't worked out. This flat(ish) fish will also take advantage of its low profile and partially bury itself in the sand too, not unlike a Flounder.
With a name like Walking Longnose Batfish, it is no surprise that this fish is a bit of an oddball, a term of endearment we use for the strangest of fish suitable for aquariums; this term is generally saved for fish that look weird, act weird, or both, and WLB's are definitely both. It really only has this one name, though the “Walking” portion is often dropped. Throughout the Spanish speaking portions of the Americas, it is known as Pez Diablo Narizon, or Big Nose Devilfish, a name we can also get behind.
On the topic of eating, these are very fun fish to feed. They're used to angling for live food, and ideally, you'd allow this to continue to happen, through the use of live (clean and gut loaded) feeder fish. Raising a culture of salt acclimated Guppies or Mollies is perfect for this. You can feed your Mollies good food, like Nutramar Complete Pellets, and then feed those mollies into your display and give your WLB a nutritious, and fun to watch feeding experience! They'll also learn to take thawed foods, especially if you target feed them with a feeding stick. Things like Gamma Whole Fish are perfect for this. Smaller specimens will do well splitting these fish in two, or also utilizing smaller foods like the Gamma Chopped Mussel. Over time, they'll learn to take these foods without your target feeding them. If they have a large meal, once a day or once every other day is enough for smaller specimens and two to three times a week is plenty for larger specimens. They will usually also take feeder shrimp and earthworms without hesitation. Click here to learn more
With a name like Walking Longnose Batfish, it is no surprise that this fish is a bit of an oddball, a term of endearment we use for the strangest of fish suitable for aquariums; this term is generally saved for fish that look weird, act weird, or both, and WLB's are definitely both. It really only has this one name, though the “Walking” portion is often dropped. Throughout the Spanish speaking portions of the Americas, it is known as Pez Diablo Narizon, or Big Nose Devilfish, a name we can also get behind.
On the topic of eating, these are very fun fish to feed. They're used to angling for live food, and ideally, you'd allow this to continue to happen, through the use of live (clean and gut loaded) feeder fish. Raising a culture of salt acclimated Guppies or Mollies is perfect for this. You can feed your Mollies good food, like Nutramar Complete Pellets, and then feed those mollies into your display and give your WLB a nutritious, and fun to watch feeding experience! They'll also learn to take thawed foods, especially if you target feed them with a feeding stick. Things like Gamma Whole Fish are perfect for this. Smaller specimens will do well splitting these fish in two, or also utilizing smaller foods like the Gamma Chopped Mussel. Over time, they'll learn to take these foods without your target feeding them. If they have a large meal, once a day or once every other day is enough for smaller specimens and two to three times a week is plenty for larger specimens. They will usually also take feeder shrimp and earthworms without hesitation. Click here to learn more
