Will a frogfish actually eat another frogfish?

[Mr_Knightley]

I have been doing some thinking on this, and I realize I have never actually seen pictures or heard reliable stories about frogs eating each other. It's generally assumed that they'll eat anything they can fit in their mouths, but I'm really struggling to find evidence that they commit cannibalism. On the contrary, I'm finding many images of various frogfish sitting together, often touching or at least within striking distance, and none of these images suggest that one eventually ate the other.
So if anyone has any direct evidence, please share it! I currently have one red frog and am planning to get another soon. I do not plan to put them together, but I was very curious to see if there's any direct evidential support for the myth of cannibalism.

Painted Frogfish Culture

Frogfishes (family: Antennariidae) are small, slow moving ambush predators with a short, stocky, well-camouflaged body. Frogfish can change their color in a few weeks to match their surroundings.

www.frankbaensch.com

 

[KrisReef]

Not Frogfish, but baby yellowfin tuna are eat each other. It's a size thing, if one gets about a third larger than it's cousin it will swallow them. Little yellowfin get eaten and the slightly bigger fish swims with the preys caudal fin sticking out of its mouth because it has to digest it before it can fully swallow it.

Yellowfin are fast growing, frogfish I think are much slower, but if one gets hungry I wouldn't be surprised if it ate a slightly smaller frogfish.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

For clarity, there is one frogfish species that is known to be a cannibal: Histrio Histrio, the sargassum frogfish. I am mostly speaking about the antennarius/antennatus species.

 

[GARRIGA]

I once considered keeping a 60 cube with frogfish but just assumed they'd likely eat each other if size disparity large enough yet recall seeing how some have spawned. Not sure if in a community setting or by introducing at certain times. Would be neat to see a tank full of these dwarf predators.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've been wondering about this myself for a while now.

I know stomach content analyses of wild frogfish has shown evidence supporting the idea of cannibalism, but in our tanks I haven't been able to find evidence of it happening - it leads me to wondering if the wild frogfish were either on the verge of starvation, or if they happened to eat another fish that recently consumed a different frogfish (either whole or in part).

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Here's a development. This is still inter-species predation, and the size discrepancy is huge, so who knows if this is a common occurrence.

 

[Reefering1]

Here's a development. This is still inter-species predation, and the size discrepancy is huge, so who knows if this is a common occurrence.

The orange one looks soooo betrayed

 

[GARRIGA]

No honor amongst predators :crying-face:

 

[Tamberav]

It is a fish eat fish world!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I thought I should update this thread:

I have had these two frogs co-habitating for 2 months now with zero issues. Both eat well, both explore often, and I find them sitting next to each other on occasion. I've seen no apparent aggression between the two, though they will often lure at each other from a distance, in a different way than when they're hunting.

Important information:
Both are near identical in size, but Priscilla (red) is slightly smaller than Dave (orange). As far as I can tell, both are Antennarius pictus, and both were collected from the same region of Indonesia. Dave eats frozen food from tongs, Priscilla still only eats live. I feed them one big meal every two weeks, enough so that their bellies visibly bulge out. It takes them about 10 days to completely digest at the temps I maintain.

Despite the fact that they cohab well, I will likely still separate them soon because I have to deep-clean their tank and don't want to put them together in a smaller holding tank. Perhaps I'll re introduce them after the new setup is built!

 

[MauiAnglerReef]

I have been doing some thinking on this, and I realize I have never actually seen pictures or heard reliable stories about frogs eating each other. It's generally assumed that they'll eat anything they can fit in their mouths, but I'm really struggling to find evidence that they commit cannibalism. On the contrary, I'm finding many images of various frogfish sitting together, often touching or at least within striking distance, and none of these images suggest that one eventually ate the other.
So if anyone has any direct evidence, please share it! I currently have one red frog and am planning to get another soon. I do not plan to put them together, but I was very curious to see if there's any direct evidential support for the myth of cannibalism.

Painted Frogfish Culture

Frogfishes (family: Antennariidae) are small, slow moving ambush predators with a short, stocky, well-camouflaged body. Frogfish can change their color in a few weeks to match their surroundings.

www.frankbaensch.com

I saw a video of a big one eating a small one

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I saw a video of a big one eating a small one

Any chance you could provide more info on the video (or the video itself)? Info like if it was in an aquarium or the wild, how big the size difference, if they looked like the same species, etc. would all be useful here.

 

[MauiAnglerReef]

Any chance you could provide more info on the video (or the video itself)? Info like if it was in an aquarium or the wild, how big the size difference, if they looked like the same species, etc. would all be useful here.

I can’t find the video, I think it was in a tank and the larger frogfish was about 2 times bigger than the other.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Well here's a 7-month report:
Both frogs are still cohabbing totally fine! Both are comfortable in each other's presence, feeding healthily, and showing good size gain. No pics atm because there's a phyto bloom in the tank and I can't see them haha.

 

[MauiAnglerReef]

Well here's a 7-month report:
Both frogs are still cohabbing totally fine! Both are comfortable in each other's presence, feeding healthily, and showing good size gain. No pics atm because there's a phyto bloom in the tank and I can't see them haha.

Found the link!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Found the link!

yeah I'm not particularly worried about this. The ones in the video are both different species and vastly different sizes, mine are the same species and the same size. Cool video though!

 

[MauiAnglerReef]

yeah I'm not particularly worried about this. The ones in the video are both different species and vastly different sizes, mine are the same species and the same size. Cool video though!

Also cool Pfp, I love shin godzilla

 

[littlefoxx]

How big of a tank do you keep your frogs in??

 

[Mr_Knightley]

How big of a tank do you keep your frogs in??

I keep mine in a 40B with plenty of rock and secluded hiding spots. Usually only see one at a time, but I also see them sit together quite often. It's cute.

 

[littlefoxx]

I keep mine in a 40B with plenty of rock and secluded hiding spots. Usually only see one at a time, but I also see them sit together quite often. It's cute.

I hope they dont try to eat eachother! That would be so sad after being together this whole time! Did you actually sex them or just be like oh that one seems like a female lol