Twitterbait Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 I have seen this somewhere before on the TV or internet, but i am having a hard time finding the name for it. when we got our Hawaii fish in we had this large choc chip type star in it. a few days later i noticed a thin black tentacle swimming out of it. then it popped out and i realized it is a fish. A parasitic fish that burrows into stars and eats them from the inside out. it looks like a freshwater knife fish. pic attached. any help with an ID? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 Could be a pearlfish Carapus mourlani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitterbait Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Yup, thats it, very nice. I wonder if a school would like this guy, probably make an interesting specimen. Any takers? If you thought the fat innkeeper had a raw deal (see my last post), then consider the fish in the family carapidae, commonly known as pearlfish. Elegant name, but wait until you find out how they live. This is what they look like: Opportunities exist everywhere in nature and if there’s a niche to be exploited some manner of organism will exploit it. The opportunity in this case is up the arse of various marine invertebrates and this is where pearlfish live and sometimes feed. I use the term arse, but technically these fish gain access to their hideaway through the aperture known as the cloaca (Latin for sewer) – most animals have one (mammals being the notable exception) and it is the common opening for the reproductive, digestive and excretory tracts. With the technicalities over let’s keep to the term ‘arse’. The animals that have the honour of being violated by these tiny fish are things like starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. The relationship of pearlfish with the latter group is particularly interesting and it seems that pearlfish have symbiotic and even parasitic relationships with these peculiar, sedentary animals. Just how a pearlfish gets inside a sea cucumber is bizarre because it’s effectively let in. The fish knocks and pecks the sea cucumber’s arse and it’s permitted entry. Typically, it wriggles in tail first, but they also go in head first and make for the breathing apparatus of the sea cucumber – structures known as respiratory trees. Some types of pearlfish appear to use sea cucumbers simply as convenient refuges as they frequently leave their living lodgings to forage and scout for mates on the sea bed, while there are other species (e.g. Encheliophis boraborensis) that rarely leave once they’ve gained entry. It’s likely these squatters are parasites that nibble their host’s respiratory trees and reproductive organs. Ghoulishly, these likely parasites have been observed in captivity eating they’re way out of their host instead of using the normal exit. There is still lots to find out about these tiny and somewhat unfortunate fish, but their way of life is intriguing as parasitic relationships are typically invertebrates living at the expense of other invertebrates as well as vertebrates. I can’t think of any other example where the tables have been turned like they have with the pearlfish and sea cucumbers. How long have pearlfish and their ancestors been sneaking up the tradesmen’s entrance of marine invertebrates? Their appearance alone suggests it is a very long time – many millions of year – as they’ve evolved a form that allows them to squeeze in and out of tight openings, they’ve all but lost many of their fins and their anus has migrated forward so that’s now near their throat. This novel anal arrangement allows them to empty their own digestive tract when they’ve got their head poking from their host on the look out for food and mates – a position these fish often adopt in the wild: source: http://scrubmuncher.wordpress.com/category/poor-unfortunates/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 yea but what did i win... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackaninny Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 yea but what did i win... You get to take home a peralfish - don't unclench (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNanoReef Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 LMAO, um, i got a damsel or two you can have, big ones. just keep an eye on your kids or they may dissappear. or you can have the pearlfish if you want it. i want it out of the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 LMAO, um, i got a damsel or two you can have, big ones. just keep an eye on your kids or they may dissappear. or you can have the pearlfish if you want it. i want it out of the shop. Maybe the Oregon Coast Aquarium or The Hatfield Science Center would take it as a donation!?!?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr S Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 I know I don't want it!!! Realize this is the first time I have ever turned anything down for the TFT program!!!! Do I get rep points for turning something down?! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJenchild Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 I'd like you to know that I have an unshakable grossed out feeling now.....pecks and then wriggles up its what now?? Seriously, I'm gonna have nightmares now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 I'd like you to know that I have an unshakable grossed out feeling now.....pecks and then wriggles up its what now?? Seriously' date=' I'm gonna have nightmares now.[/quote'] Ya know I was always told there are "fish/parasites" in rivers that do this also. The only difference is they go through a much smaller hole in the #1 waste removal tube of the body... I don't think they are around in our rivers though. Always heard stories about this from my parents(could have just been a scare tactic) Nighty night!!!!:p:p:p(hidesbehindsofa) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 LMAO, um, i got a damsel or two you can have, big ones. just keep an eye on your kids or they may dissappear. or you can have the pearlfish if you want it. i want it out of the shop. Hmm thats a tough one for sure...if i had to choose i might just take the anal fish over the damsel....man thats a tough one. I hate damsels. (scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Hmm thats a tough one for sure...if i had to choose i might just take the anal fish over the damsel....man thats a tough one. I hate damsels. (scratch) Get them both and put them in a tank together...(devil) Can ya tell how much I like the damsels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitterbait Posted May 14, 2010 Author Share Posted May 14, 2010 you guys are too funny... now serously, this guy is free, first come first served, get a nice big star for him, great conversations piece. "hey, you think that yellow fish is cool, check this out" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Watch out mr cleaner shrimp, you've got competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Ask Nick at Rose City if he wants it. He likes to get unusual creatures, even if nobody else seems to like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisW Posted May 14, 2010 Share Posted May 14, 2010 Someone else had one of these over on RC. Look up "Angela's gonad eating butt fish" and I think you will find the thread. It is seriously funny. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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