Variable Jawfish/El Diablo Jawfish/Opistognathus variabilis information?

[Flatearth]

I see this species pop up from time to time, and I was curious if anyone had any information about them?


To my eyes there are two types of jawfish. The fat ones like the dusky jawfish and the skinny ones like the pearly jawfish. A 3 inch dusky is about twice as wide as a 3 inch pearly, and in my experience the dusky is a much bolder fish(it also gets about 6 inches).


I am wondering if the Variable Jawfish is basically just a smaller dusky as far as care and temperament go? They apparently reach about 4 inches, would at least like a confirmation on that.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I see this species pop up from time to time, and I was curious if anyone had any information about them?


To my eyes there are two types of jawfish. The fat ones like the dusky jawfish and the skinny ones like the pearly jawfish. A 3 inch dusky is about twice as wide as a 3 inch pearly, and in my experience the dusky is a much bolder fish(it also gets about 6 inches).


I am wondering if the Variable Jawfish is basically just a smaller dusky as far as care and temperament go? They apparently reach about 4 inches, would at least like a confirmation on that.

Sorry - I haven't kept this species myself, but here is a link to an extensive monograph of Indo jawfishes. Search "variabilis"

View of <p><strong>Review of Indo-West Pacific jawfishes (<em>Opistognathus</em>: Opistognathidae), with descriptions of 18 new species</strong></p>

Description of the species is on p. 96, and lots of cool color pics at the end.


Jay

 

[JMann]

I see this species pop up from time to time, and I was curious if anyone had any information about them?


To my eyes there are two types of jawfish. The fat ones like the dusky jawfish and the skinny ones like the pearly jawfish. A 3 inch dusky is about twice as wide as a 3 inch pearly, and in my experience the dusky is a much bolder fish(it also gets about 6 inches).


I am wondering if the Variable Jawfish is basically just a smaller dusky as far as care and temperament go? They apparently reach about 4 inches, would at least like a confirmation on that.

I had a beautiful Variable Jawfish for only about 2 weeks as sadly he found a tiny crack in the top and jumped out of the tank while I was out of town. He exemplified everything which is great about Jaws. They’re more the standard long/slender body type rather than the stockier Dusky types. He didn’t hover over his burrow like Caribbean/Florida Yellowheads. He was definitely full of character, of course. I had a tank setup for him with barely any rock work and deep sand.

 

[JasonSon]

I see this species pop up from time to time, and I was curious if anyone had any information about them?


To my eyes there are two types of jawfish. The fat ones like the dusky jawfish and the skinny ones like the pearly jawfish. A 3 inch dusky is about twice as wide as a 3 inch pearly, and in my experience the dusky is a much bolder fish(it also gets about 6 inches).


I am wondering if the Variable Jawfish is basically just a smaller dusky as far as care and temperament go? They apparently reach about 4 inches, would at least like a confirmation on that.

I have had one for about a year now. HE IS OUR FAVORITE FISH! My Girlfriend found him at our local pet store and she did the whole follow my finger thing so we had to take him home... and yeah he's just grown and has a fun personality. looks grumpy all the time and yells at other fish (Opens his mouth really wide) who swim on his turf.

Heads up you're gonna need at least 3- 4 inches of substrate for him. He will move all that around. Mine currently has about 5 inches of substrate near his home and about 2-3 inches across the whole tank He is an amazing excavator, he even separates the fine sand from the larger pebbles. He will use objects like frag plugs and shells to support his home entrance. He then will slowly move those objects into his cave and use them as support in the walls. He is backed up to a very large dead coral skeleton that acts as a supporting wall for his home. He does have a whole space under his entrance. enough to fully swim and turn around in, he even has an escape door out the back...

I feed him, brine, mysis, spectrum pellet food, mixed veggie and proteins flake foods. will have food soaked in benereef coral food 1 time a week.

temp around 78-79
Nitrates get topped around 10 ppm in my tank (hover around 3-5 normally)
Phosphate ranges from 0.05 - 0.2


I did notice he colored up a lot after giving a mixed diet...
He was a lot more white but is now more hues of reds and burgundy's.
Definitely thicker than most pearlys I have seen.

he seems healthy and is always fun to see eat and to interact with.

Hope this helps!