[youtube width=”680″ height=”380″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNj5zBilPdA[/youtube]
Bodianus masudai and B. leucosticticus are two deepwater hogfish which have recently appeared as singular specimens. Digiman from Singapore obtained a beautiful specimen of B. masudai which is rarely seen outside of the Japanese aquarium market. This Bodianus masudai is somewhat special as it was captured in the Celebes Sea, right alongside the collections of the amazing Sacura speciosa and Liopropoma lunulatum.
This Masuda hogfish was captured in about 150 feet of water, which is not nearly as deep as the Hawaiian endemic neon hogfish, Bodianus sanguineus. Not to be confused with the now common pepperming hogfish, Bodianus sepiacaudalis, the colors of Bodianus masudai are much more vivid red and white with a streak of yellow accenting the whole package. On a related note, marine fish powerhouse B-Box Aquarium recently acquired a similarly rare deepwater hogfish, Bodianus leucosticticus which is featured in the video below.
Like Bodianus masudai, the five stripe hogfish B. paraleucosticticus is a rare labrid with a preference for fairly deep water, and it begins to be seen at around 150 feet deep. This species was only recently described in 2006 from specimens captured at Raratonga, Cook Islands, the same collecting location for the peppermint angelfish. Bodianus paraleucosticticus is now known to occur around Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia in the West Pacific Ocean. For more information on Bodianus paraleucosticticus you can read up on Scott Michael’s experience in keeping the fivestripe hogfish.
[youtube width=”680″ height=”380″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6nSLEYSo0[/youtube]
