Striated Frogfish (Antennarius striatus) Care Guide
Antennarius striatus is a small, highly variable marine frogfish with a worm-like lure and an ambush hunting strategy.
Overview
Antennarius striatus, the striated frogfish, is a small benthic marine fish of the family Antennariidae. According to FishBase, it has an unusually wide distribution across the western and eastern Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific. Its body is rounded and extensible, with soft skin covered in hair-like dermal spinules, and a large, forwardly extensible mouth.
Taxonomy
- Family: Antennariidae
- Genus: Antennarius
- Scientific name: Antennarius striatus (Shaw, 1794)
Habitat
FishBase records the species in the western Atlantic (New Jersey to Brazil), the eastern Atlantic (Senegal to southwest Africa) and the Indo-Pacific (Red Sea to the Hawaiian Islands, Japan to New Zealand); it is absent from the eastern Pacific. It is reef-associated and occurs over rocks, sand or rubble, on rocky and coral reefs, and in weedy estuaries. Reported depths range from 10 to 219 m, with Atlantic records typically near 40 m.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 250 L
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- GH: 8-12 °dGH
- Adult size: 15-22 cm (FishBase reports a maximum of 25 cm TL)
- Lifespan: 5-20 years
Diet
The striated frogfish is a carnivore. It is an ambush predator that lures prey with a modified first dorsal spine bearing a worm-like esca, sometimes aided by a chemical attractant at night. Frogfish capture prey by rapid suction; Wikipedia notes the strike can take only a few thousandths of a second, and they can swallow prey as large as themselves. In aquaria they are typically offered live or thawed meaty foods such as silversides.
Compatibility
This is a solitary, bottom-dwelling species best kept alone or only with conspecifics of similar size. Because it swallows prey approaching its own body size, it should not be housed with smaller fish or ornamental shrimp, which would be eaten.
Breeding
The species is oviparous. FishBase describes the eggs as bound in a gelatinous ribbon-like mass called an egg raft or veil. Males show more intense coloration and longer cutaneous appendages than females, and adults are otherwise solitary, gathering only to spawn.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern (assessed 2013), as reported by FishBase.