Prionurus punctatus aka Yellowtail Surgeonfish

[ripped tide]

Just picked one of these guys up from Marine Fish today. It's been acclimated and added to my aquarium and has already began eating. I have NEVER seen these for sale in a fish store and can't really find them for sale online. He is about Quarter sized(can't get a good pic yet, but will keep trying) and really neat! They have three more, and I am half tempted to go buy 2 more and have a small school (if I had the money I would). It is in my 50g for now... I want to get him a little larger, or at least past bite size, before it goes to the 210.

Has anyone ever raised these guys? The guy who helped me said that they were aquacultured (I am assuming this means that they were collected at larval stages and raised until big enough to sell). I'd like to know your experiences. Thanks!

 

[KrisDeitz]

What you pay for these? Is your small?

 

[ripped tide]

He was 40+tax after the arc discount. VERY SMALL! It is only about 1.5inches and the body is about the size of a quarter. He works great for my 50g.... for now.

 

[acroholic]

Almost looks like a reverse Gem Tang. Black spots on a white background vs white spots on a black background. Does get to 23" though.

 

[ripped tide]

It does get huge. Once it gets big enough for my Big Eye Squirrel fish not to eat it, I plan on moving it to a 210, and then eventually a large lagoon tank for sharks and rays.

 

[acroholic]

For anyone wondering. That bad boy has three blades on each side of his tail. He's packin'!

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[joshtih]

That is a beautiful fish! Anyone know how to go about setting up a swimming pool as a reef tank??? Haha. I wish!

 

[ripped tide]

I hope mine looks as nice once it gets that size. I did notice that it belongs to an unpopular genus of tangs. Are there many others from that genus in the aquarium hobby?

 

[KrisDeitz]

Ill take 4 for my bc 29 please... : )

 

[ripped tide]

lol! They are damsel sized.... right now

Edit: It keeps trying to school with my clownfish.... am I obligated to go get two more?

 

[ripped tide]

Well, my wife has given me clearance to get two more(even more rare than the fish I am going to buy). I am going to go pick up two more tomorrow, as long as they are willing to work with me on the price for a multi-purchase.

 

[ichthyoid]

Acroholic;698967 wrote: For anyone wondering. That bad boy has three blades on each side of his tail. <u>He's packin'</u>!

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[thanh386]

Interesting.

Edit: Interesting.

 

[ripped tide]

Thanh386;698989 wrote: Interesting.

Edit: Interesting.

... should I take this as a threat??? lol! I'll save one for you....

 

[thanh386]

I am double posting for some reason

Edit: I want the black and gem first

 

[ripped tide]

Both the black and gem would probably be larger than these. I'm not kidding about it being damsels sized, and I bought the largest. I don't know when you will see these in the hobby again, so if you want, i can pick up all three and hold one for you. LMK

 

[cantare00]

I saw 2 of these at another LFS today... They were also about damsel size as well... They looked really cool I might pick one up too...

 

[lifestudent]

How well do Yellowtail Surgeonfish get along with similiarly shaped tangs of another species (e.g., yellow tang or sailfin tang)?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Are you sure of the species ID? Do you know where theyw ere collected? These Prionurus sp. are regularly misidentified, and some of them just get flat out fugly when they grow.

 

[ripped tide]

I am fairly certain of the ID. I can only get a poor picture, but I'll post it shortly to get a second opinion. The guy said that they were collected from the gulf of California.

Lifestudent, this is my first encounter with this genus. As Jeremy said, a lot of the fish in this genus end up ugly! I take a fancy to this particular species of prionurus genus. I don't have any other tangs in that tank, but he is friendly to all of the other fish and tries to school with them. I haven't had a chance to get the two more yet.

He has made is to day 3, only eating frozen foods and algae. He isn't too interested in flake or pellets yet. This leaves me to believe that if he truly was aquacultured, then the facility probably was still feeding them live foods.

Daniel, PM me where and how much? I won't buy any out from under you, just want to know my options.