Sooo Batfish.. The angler kind

[LadAShark]

Sorry, not talking about Pinnatus or Orbiculate batfish!
What I'm here to talk, and ask, about is the Ogcocephalus genus. Specifically Ogocophalus Cubiformes (Cubifrons?).
Would it be possible to keep one of these in anpredatory tank? I know they're some sort of angler, but I have not been able to find any information besides hearing that they're shy (at least one other species I actually found info about) and run away like a crab when scared (yeah they don't even swim away, lol).

So does anyone know anything about this fish?

 

[rayn]

I do not, and am intrigued.

Maybe @Lionfish Lair [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[melypr1985]

I dunno, but I wanna!

 

[Humblefish]

Don't know anything about them but am following. Below are a couple of links you may (or may not) have already seen:

https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/ogcocephalus-cubifrons

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/27085

 

[TheHeffalump]

Someone recently posted a video of a barrel of walking bat fish check the sponsored posts from
Like 2 weeks ago

 

[LadAShark]

Thing is I can get one or two (or more of these), so I want to know what I'm getting into first haha.

But they are really freaking cool critters!

 

[LadAShark]

Don't know anything about them but am following. Below are a couple of links you may (or may not) have already seen:

https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/discover/species-profiles/ogcocephalus-cubifrons

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/27085

Yep those are the two of the few links I was able to find.

I went to wikipedia and went from species to genus to family, and found some information there:
"Analysis of their stomach contents indicates that batfishes feed on fish, crustaceans, and polychaete worms."

Well, you're probably not getting any bristle worm infestations with one of these around!

But the real question is just how big things can they eat? The largest of them know can grow to 20". The closest I got the the cubifrons was the red lipped batfish, which only eats small crustaceans. But I am willing to guess that this guy is a "anything that fits in its mouth" feeder like many anglerfish.

Just how big is its mouth though x.x

If it can only swallow a small shrimp then great, in it goes into the predator tank.

If it can go and swallow a 1 ft critter without trying while being 1' itself, it'd need a species tank.

 

[rayn]

I think @Lionfish Lair has some info on these.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Weird.... I thought for sure I said something about these guys in here.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

OK, I had to go do a search because it's not very often one talks about these guys, so I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming it or losing my mind. It was in another thread.

I kind of consider their mouth like that of a waspfish.... they're pretty small in relation to the entire body size. It's kind of like that, except these guys aren't laterally compressed..... they're just squished in the opposite direction. I've never seen an adult batfish in person, so I can't really say what can "go in there".

 

[LadAShark]

OK, I had to go do a search because it's not very often one talks about these guys, so I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming it or losing my mind. It was in another thread.

I kind of consider their mouth like that of a waspfish.... they're pretty small in relation to the entire body size. It's kind of like that, except these guys aren't laterally compressed..... they're just squished in the opposite direction. I've never seen an adult batfish in person, so I can't really say what can "go in there".

I see. I just need to make sure that he can't eat things his size or larger, because that's what I intend to keep with him.
They look sort of hilarious and awesome at the same time, sooo I just needed some information on them before buying something that would (a) kill my other life or (b) die in my tank

 

[pluikens]

Digging this thread up as LA now has Longnose Batfish (Ogcocephalus corniger) available for sale. Looks like they're coming in 2-4", max size of 9.5". @LadAShark did you ever end up with one?

 

[LadAShark]

No I never did.

I've been quite busy lately so I had to minimize my setup for the time being. A lot of stuff has been happening, like I ended up moving into a house I intended to flip, and some new work abroad. So for now I had to put it off and settle on smaller tanks (~120 gallons) till I find some time to set up a larger tank with enough room for one of these guys.

Thanks for letting me know though!