Sharkitty

Check this guy out. He's beautimus!

Amanda

SW shark? I don't like seeing sharks in tanks...doesn't seem fair for them.

Sharkitty

Is he a shark? I don't know what he is. He's a sucker fish, though.

TFA101

He's an epaulette shark. They are ocean sharks, not sucker fish like plecos.. They are kind of like nurse sharks only with a smaller size and different coloration. Here's an article from wikipedia.org

The epaulette shark, Hemiscyllium ocellatum, is a bamboo shark in the family Hemiscylliidae found in the western Pacific Ocean off Papua New Guinea and northern Australia, possibly occurring in Malaysia, Sumatra (Indonesia), and the Solomon Islands between latitudes 1° S and 26° S, to depths of 50 m. Its length is up to 1.07 m.

The epaulette shark is commonly found in the shallow water of coral reefs, often in tide pools. When feeding, it will walk on the bottom of the tide pool or feeding area in search of prey. The caudal fin has a pronounced subterminal notch but is without a ventral lobe. It feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates.

Reproduction is oviparous. It has the ability to survive low oxygen conditions by switching off non-essential brain functions - apparently an adaptation for hunting in tide-pools with low oxygen.

In an article for Aquarium Fish Magazine, Scott W. Michael referred to the epaulette shark as "the best shark for the home aquarium." He also noted that epaulette sharks have been observed "walking" along the aquarium bottom with its fins.[2]

Epaulettes will breed regularly in captivity, even in tanks as small as 135 gallons.[2] Eggs are laid nocturnally two or three at a time in leathery cases. They will take approximately 130 days to hatch at 77F, until then they risk being cannibalized by their parents or being parasitized by fungi.

Full sized adult epaulette sharks are most successfully housed in tanks at or exceeding 180 gallons. They are not compatible with community tanks as they will eat other fish.

Even though they do readily adapt to life in a large home aquarium, I am against keeping open water sharks in home aquariums or even zoo aquariums.

Sharkitty

Why do you guys think keeping a shark is any worse than keeping all the other fish we do? I'm not trying to fight - I just really don't understand why there would be a difference, or why there is a particular offense taken to keeping sharks.

For what it's worth, at least this guy has an amazing well kept 500+ gallon tank.

TFA101

true, and epaulettes do adapt to captivity better than other sharks, but I just think that taking them out of their natural habitat to be put on display is a little harsh, especially since such a large animal reacts to transportation stress a little more than smaller fish do when being transported from one tank to another.

Amanda

Because these fish get LARGE, and it's not fair to keep such large fish in tanks. I also don't think that Pacu, ID sharks, etc. should be kept either.

catfishlover123

Now that is one cool fish! It looks like a plecostomus. I think it probably is worth keeping a shark like that. I don't see a problem with it. I knew it was a type of bamboo shark. Who does he belong to?

catfishlover123

Well, you guys have a point. But he's being rescued from probably being hunted.

Sharkitty

They aren't bred in captivity? People go catch them in the ocean?

Even a pack of Danios would have tens of thousands of gallons to roam out in the wild - I guess I don't see how it's any different so long as a big fish's tank is proportionally larger based on the size of what would be his natural territory.

Sharkitty

Catfishlover: He belongs to the owner of a place called Hollywood Aquarium in my town. The guy has half a dozen amazing live rock saltwater displays and the fish in them are not for sale. This guy is in the biggest tank, which is 500 or 600 gallons.

catfishlover123

Well, you never know if they are caught or bred in tanks. 500 gallons is a lot, but it's more suited in the wild.

TFA101

some sharks are bred in captivity, I believe epaulettes are one of them, but there are still some instances where fisherman will go out and catch live animals for the sake of profit. I can't exactly say because I don't know this shark's history, but I just think like Amanda said, that sharks are much larger animals, and they do need there space. Thats why when fishkeepers like us start a fish tank, we really want to look for stores that sell captive bred fish (they are more readily adapted to aquarium life and have not been taken directly from the wild) and we want to understock our tank to replicate the natural surroundings and make life for our pets as realistic to their wild home as possible, without providing a crowded settign that would be nonexsistant in the wild. But larger fish need much more space than smaller fish do, and sometimes, the tanks that larger fish are housed in are bare and have little to no resemblence of their natural habitat. DO you have any more pictures of this shark tank? I would love to see a full view of the tank to get a better perspective of living conditions

Sharkitty

I can take more if I go back tomorrow. It's a cool tank in general.

I saw a sea urchin scootin' himself around today too. That was neat.

catfishlover123

Could you try to get a vid? Is the shark really active?

Sharkitty

My phone doesn't do video, and I don't want to freak out the owner. Plus, I imagine the best that will happen is that you guys will think it's "kind of okay" and at worst you'll want me to liberate him.

He isn't terribly active - he spends a lot of time latched onto the rocks.

TFA101

Epaulettes aren't the most active of sharks but should still be given some good amount of room which in 500 gallons+ tank he has alot of. Is the tank longer, or does it have a bigger footprint. The bigger the foot print the happier the shark.

Sharkitty

It's only about 2.5-3 feet tall, but about 6' by 6' (total guesstimate). It has a lot of live rock in the middle section, which he *might* be able to squeeze through. I'll take a few more photos just because it's a cool tank. I think he's just beautiful.

TFA101

Epaulettes are very stunning I find the black spot on their sides to be very attractive haha

Sharkitty

Whoa, just found one of these guys on liveaquaria for $700!!

serissime

wow. he's gorgeous

dee34

amazing ........