Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: East Africa to Hawaiian Islands, north to Southern Japan, and south to Lord Howe and Easter Islands.
Size: 6 inches (16 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits caves and crevices on reef flats, reef faces, and fore-reef slopes and can usually be found at depths between 3 - 80 feet (1 - 25 m) during daylight hours, and feeds at night mainly on shrimp and crabs.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade. This large eye species has a bright red ‘high’ body, higher than others in this family.
Best maintained in aquariums with several caves/hiding areas large enough to house the adult-sized specimen, as those in this family grow to adulthood quite fast. The aquarium should also be dimly lit, as this is a nocturnal species, preferring to hide throughout daytime hours and feed at night. If maintained in a brightly lit aquarium, i.e., reef aquarium, it should also have sufficient caves as noted above, but will be far less visible in daylight hours. Even though quite docile and peaceful, tankmates should be large enough so as not to be eaten.
Requires a meaty diet such as enriched chopped fish or shrimp flesh, mysis, frozen brine shrimp, and/or frozen carnivore foods with one or two feedings per day.
May be difficult to feed in the early days in the aquarium due to its nocturnal feeding habits, and if so, live foods, e.g., live enriched brine shrimp, grass shrimp, black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus), baby mollies and/or guppies should be offered. Over time, it will learn to accept frozen foods like mysis, krill and brine shrimp more readily when offered to others in the aquarium.
Taxonomy:
Order: Beryciformes
Suborder: Holocentroidei
Family: Holocentridae
Genus: Plectrypops
FYI: Extremely secretive, and will not venture far from hiding areas to feed.
Can become bullies if their quarters are too small.
Will eat ornamental shrimp and smaller fishes.
Sensitive to tapping on aquarium side panels.
Should not be captured with a net, as their large eye can easily be damaged. Use a proper size container.
One per aquarium.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 75 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 80°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
