Lagoon of Japan recently scored with a female T. flavofasciatus that came singly without a male partner. We wrote about this female not very far back, but at that time, we had no idea that Lagoon from Japan was putting together a beautiful and unique transformation progress of the lonely sheila into a gorgeous male. The four step picture above shows the beautiful change from a female into a stunning candy colored male starting from the top right photo, going counter-clock wise to the bottom right.
T. flavofasciatus is a really rare and deep water anthias that is very seldom available in the trade. Whatever few specimens that do get caught end up in the local Japanese market. Powerhouse LFS like BlueHarbor and Vessel have scored with these beauties before. Although it’s dreary to keep mentioning that such rare fish almost never leave the Japanese market, it is the truth and a very depressing one at that.
Also by Lagoon is the juvenile Caprodon schlegelii pictured above. It is a Japanese endemic, that is rarely seen or sold in the aquarium trade. Juveniles are very expensive and are uncommonly seen. Adults however, are sometimes trawled up from deepwaters around 50-100m, and are sold as food fish. Also called the Sunrise Perch, the juvenile C. schlegelii is kept in a cool 18 degree tank to match its coldwater habitat.
Lagoon also offered a female T. filamentosus. The Tosanoides filamentosus came as a pair, with the female measuring in at 6cm, and the male, 8cm. We wrote about the male recently but did not show pictures of the female above in which it was paired with. Like most other deepwater fish, it is kept in a cool water set up of about 18 degrees celcius.
via [Lagoon]
