Familiarity has made us jaded with the beautiful and charismatic genus – Liopropoma. L. carmabi and L. rubre were once the creme de la creme species that everyone were dying to own, but in recent years they have become more widely available and the hype has died down quite a bit. However, for every known species available readily in the trade, lies a dozen more tantalising and unknown species that seldom, or never show up. Such is the beauty of this enigmatic group of fish, and L. latifasciatum is one such species.
This medium sized bass is colored a a light coral, with a jet black equatorial belt running from the eye to its caudal peduncle. The fins and cheeks are accented in chrome yellow which lends an overall subtle hue to the otherwise striking fish. This lesser known basslet imported by Iwarna Aquafarm, measures in at 2.5 inches and showed zero signs of decompression problems (which is quite common with deepwater basslets), and is eating dried food since day 1. It is residing in Singaporean Reefer Digiman’s tank.
Better known by his alias Digiman, he is well featured here at ReefBuilders, and has an amazing fish collection which we have shared in the past. His new additions resides in a smaller 3ft tank, which feature peaceful tank mates. In the video above, it can be seen sharing its home with his juvenile Bodianus sp aka the Banana Hogfish, as well as captive bred Mccullochi clowns.
Another cool dude residing in his tank is the beautiful and elegant Sailfin Jawfish, Opistognathus lonchurus, from the Caribbean. This pearly white fish with a sailfin to match its beauty is rarely seen and boy is it a charmer! Check out the video above as it plays an endearing act of peek-a-boo in its finely crafted tunnel.