Some brackish oddballs in London, UK

[nmonks]

Just a heads-up for British fishkeepers here. I happened to be in Enfield this afternoon (Crews Hill, to be specific) and visiting the remarkably numerous fish stores withing 10 minutes of the train station. Among other things, I spotted the following brackish / brackish tolerant species ...

Wildwoods
Celebes halfbeaks (Nomorhamphus liemi liemi, not Nomorhamphus ebrardtii)
Freshwater needlefish "striped" (Xenentodon cancila)

Aquatics Warehouse
Butterfly "goby" (Notesthes robusta) = bullrout
Lizardfish (look like Butis sp. to me)
Targetfish (Terapon jarbua)
Silver scat (Selenotoca sp.)
Monos (Monodactylus sp., orangey, like the "dwarf" kottelati, but not sure)

Freshwater needlefish and targetfish are very rare in London, I've only seen needlefish maybe three or four times, and targetfish only once before. I'm disappointed that Aquatics Warehouse have misidentified the (potentially huge) bullrout as some kind of goby. But they were very cute, swimming about like little brown groupers.

Anyway, brackish water aquarists in the neighbourhood might want to stop by and check out these fish. Both stores, as well as some of the others, like the Maidenhead Aquatics, had other, more run of the mill, stuff like bumblebees and green spotted puffers. Maidenhead Aquatics and Wildwoods both had a pretty wide selection of spiny eels as well. Personally, I lucked out at Maidenhead Aquatics and came home with 3 female Dermogenys halfbeaks.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[CFC]

Nice, i'll have to see if i can talk the mrs into a drive down to Enfield this weekend. I've been looking for Terapon jarbua and Notesthes robusta for a long time. Did they have many in or should i phone and reserve them?

 

[nmonks]

One targetfish, and dozens of bullrouts. Each was around 5-6 pounds a piece. The targetfish looked a little bit moth-eaten but I'd put that down to being kept in freshwater for too long. It otherwise looked healthy and active.

I didn't get into Home Marine (it was closed) so there may be stuff there I missed. I also forgot to mention that Wildwoods had at least one Datnoides and a tankful of Xenotoca.

Cheers,

Neale

Nice, i'll have to see if i can talk the mrs into a drive down to Enfield this weekend. I've been looking for Terapon jarbua and Notesthes robusta for a long time. Did they have many in or should i phone and reserve them?

[snapback]921582[/snapback]​

 

[CFC]

Now reserved, i pick them up on saturday

 

[nmonks]

Cool.

You can make quite a day of this place. There's 6 stores within a quarter mile stretch of the road (Theobalds Park Road or something similar). Working eastwards from the train station, you have almost immediately Aquatics Warehouse on the north side of the road in a sort of retail park. A bit further along is Maidenhead Aquatics in a garden centre with a windmill, and then two more on the other side of the road, one very pokey and basic, but the other, Home Marine, supposedly rather better. Then the road curves round 90 degrees from going east to going south, and you have on the east side of it another pokey store in a garden centre area with reptiles and birds and such, and then finally Wildwoods.

Wildwoods has a reputation for getting nice Asian stuff, particularly barbs. Besides the brackish stuff, they had some really cool oddballs including Hepsetus odoe, Ctenolucius sp., Asian leaf fish Nandus nebulosus, various Garra spp., some huge hatchetfish, and dozens of catfish including baby whales (Cetopsis sp.?). Maintenance seemed okay but not brilliant, with quite a few dead fish in the tanks; a surprise given how well regarded this store is. Possibly I came on a bad day.

Anyway, well worth a trip.

Cheers,

Neale

Now reserved, i pick them up on saturday

[snapback]921636[/snapback]​

 

[CFC]

I used to pop over that way quite often but have been limiting myself recently because everytime i go over there i come back substancially lighter in the pocket and need to set up more tanks ) I usually avoid the aquatics warehouse because each time i had been in there i had seen signs of disease in a lot of the tanks but if thats the only place that has a fish i want then thats where i have to go.

 

[funkybodal]

cool post nmonks. I agree the enfield area is brilliant for fish shopping - wildwoods is brilliant and then you've loadsa shops on Cattlegate Road I think it's called - they're all located in garden centres which are also in abundance (that's how I convince my mum to drive me up there).

By the way, are you SURE that these Butterfly Gobies are actually Bullrout? I have a feeling that they could indeed be the recently imported Neovespicula depressifrons which only grow up to about 10cm. They do indeed look like tiny groupers...here's a pic

It's very rare and I want one

Cheers,
Luke.

 

[nmonks]

Hi Luke,

Wow, those "butterfly gobies" could very easily be Neovespicula depressifrons. Certainly they had huge flippers and were very active. Also much smaller than the average bullrout (which I've usually seen around the 8-10 cm mark). They were about the size and build of a small corydoras, but brown, and swimming in midwater as well as resting.

About the only extra info on these beasts I could fine was here. Not unlike a bullrout in habits though -- predatory, prefers live food, stings.

As I recall there were a dozen or so in their tank, going for about 5 pounds a piece, so there should be enough for you and CFC!

Cheers,

Neale

By the way, are you SURE that these Butterfly Gobies are actually Bullrout? I have a feeling that they could indeed be the recently imported Neovespicula depressifrons which only grow up to about 10cm. They do indeed look like tiny groupers...here's a pic

It's very rare and I want one

Cheers,
Luke.

 

[funkybodal]

Cheers for the link, it was very informative. They give the scientific name Vespicula depressifrons but it is definitely Neovespicula depressifrons they're talking about, which is the valid scientific name. Vespicula is in fact a different genus in which there are 4 species that are all marine fishes.

I'd love to buy some but unfortunately I'm going off to University in a couple of days and I don't really trust my parents with a brackish tank

Cool brackish site by the way, now you can add Neovespicula depressifrons into the oddball brackish fish section

 

[nmonks]

Thanks!

I have just added this fish to the FAQ, and given it the name "Butterfly-goby waspfish", which I hope will help people keep this beastie separate from the other butterfly goby, the goby Awaous flavus.

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/bra...4.html#waspfish

The "true" butterfly goby, incidentally, is called the candy-stripe goby in the US, though the Germans call it the butterfly goby (lit. "Schmetterlingsgrundel") as well as the Brits. I have a pair of them in my tank at home, and put a picture of them below. The butterfly goby name (I suppose) comes from the dorsal fins, which in both sexes are brightly coloured, though hugely variable. They're really nice fish, and at about 10 cm long, quite impressive too. Very active, almost mudskipper-like in their behaviour. They do dig a lot, so I'd only keep them in tanks with sandy substrates.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[funkybodal]

Very nice fish you've got there - have they ever shown signs of breeding?
I've never seen flavus before but I've seen Awaous lateristriga at Wholesale Tropicals in London, not sure if they've still got some.

 

[nmonks]

Thanks!

These fish seem to be a nightmare to breed. While (apparently) freshwater denizens the fry drift downstream into the sea to feed on plankton, only to swim back into freshwaters after a certain time. I know one person who has spawned them, but to the best of my knowldege even she (a professional goby scientist) hasn't managed to raise the fry. You can read her report here:

http/www.gobiidae.com/breeding_awaous.htm

Mine display to one another a lot, and they are definitely a pair, if the fact they swim and rest together is anything to go by. As pets, I recommend them highly, but do bear in mind they're not cheap (mine were 10 UKP each) and don't live very long (apparently at most 2 years). Part of the problem with keeping them is that they are always hungry and inveterate burrowers. Mine feed as much by night as by day. They're "eartheaters" and seem to like small invertebrates such as bloodworms, frozen plankton, and lobster eggs.

Cheers,

Neale

Very nice fish you've got there - have they ever shown signs of breeding?

 

[CFC]

Well that was an uneventfull trip The target fish was dead when we arrived at the store and the butterfly gobies (which are Neovespicula depressifrons) were far too small for any of my tanks. Nothing in any of the other shops particularly caught my eye (nothing i could afford anyway ) so we came back empty handed, oh well you cant always find great fish at great prices i spose.