The wartskin anglerfish is a secretive and interactive fish that requires you to get your hands wet almost every day. Contrary to its personality, their colors are composed of a vivid array of oranges, yellows, oranges, reds, greens, pinks, browns, whites, and black.
Its scientific name, Antennarius maculatus, perfectly describes the wartskin angler. Anntennarius suggesting that it has an antenna and maculatus meaning spotted or stained in Latin.
This colorful fish will brighten up any cave or crevice and it may try to blend in with your coral. Its textured appearance closely resembles a porous rock or sponge. This is not an active fish; it spends most of its time sitting and waiting to snag a tasty snack. It uses its antennae to attract small fish and shrimp much like a lure.
Since it is a predator, you do not want to have any tankmates around the same size as the anglerfish. Unless of course, you want to give him food. This is quite entertaining to see how they naturally obtain their prey.
You can easily moderate their food consumption by feeding frozen food such as krill or silversides. You can use tongs or zip ties to mimic a live shrimp or fish. Buying an anglerfish that is already eating frozen food at your local fish store is your best choice. Additionally, many live foods that are available are not very nutritious.
Wartskin anglerfish do not need to be fed every day. Because they are an ambush predator, they do not necessarily receive food every day in the wild. They should be fed every other day or every three days depending on what you are feeding and how large the fish is.
Although they do not move much, wartskin anglers need at least a twenty gallon tank. This is due to their size as they can get fairly large; up to about four inches. The other requirements for these fish are typical aquarium standards. They should be kept in
They should be kept in water around 74 degrees Fahrenheit and they would rather have low flow since they walk instead of swim. Wartskin anglerfish are a unique fish to own and care for. They stealthily ambush their prey done in a fashion unlike any other fish.
