The Oceanic Institute of Hawaii Pacific University and world-renowned Georgia Aquarium have successfully bred and reared the Squarespot Anthias, Pseudanthias pleurotaenia.
Wild-caught Squarespots are a difficult proposition for the average home reef aquarist, needing expert quarantine and conditioning for survival, but experts at the Aquarium obtained and cared for the broodstock before shipping them to Oahu, Hawaii for the Institute to try to breed them. The Finfish department at OI took over their care from there and in less than one month the broodstock had spawned.
Georgia says the eggs were moved to the Finfish hatchery and using a combination of protocols developed by Oceanic Institute, as well as published protocols on another anthias species, the team at OI was able to successfully raise the very first batch of eggs. At 30 days after hatching, the larval anthias had settled into juveniles.
Return journey
After growing for a few weeks, the juvenile anthias made the journey to Georgia Aquarium where they will continue to grow before they are ready for display. Sequential hermaphrodites, Pseudanthias pleurotaenia start life as yellow to orange-colored females, (pictured in the main image). The dominant individual will change to a male displaying deep pink coloration with a square-shaped spot that gives the species their common name.
Male Squarespot Anthias are absolutely stunning, and Georgia Aquarium says harems of this species are popular in public aquariums for their beautiful colors and interesting social dynamics. If visiting the Georgia Aquarium, the species can be viewed at the Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef exhibit in its Tropical Diver gallery.
What we think
Georgia Aquarium says that only nine Anthias species have been successfully aquacultured to date, but the fact that they have successfully spawned and raised such a sought-after yet previously nearly impossible-to-keep fish is a huge milestone that they’ve overcome for the aquarium industry.
We take tank-bred clownfish for granted, we smile every time we hear of a new surgeonfish or angelfish species being bred in captivity. But Squarespot Anthias is a next-level achievement, we never for one moment imaged we would see them being captive-bred, and we eagerly await the day when easier-to-keep, sustainable, captive-bred Squarespot Anthias are more widely available in the aquarium industry.
