Can anyone ID this Sailfin tang?

[Pike614]

Reefer AL, I would agree on your Hybrid idea. It does not matter really, just wanted to know which one I had because he looks a lot different from the V. sailfins I have seen, and does not match the D. sailfins perfectly either............must be a Hybrid of the two.

[delphinus]

I didn't realize the two had overlapping ranges. Interesting.

Seems to me in taxonomy there are always "lumpers" and "splitters". I.e., those that would lump two similar things into one species ID, and those that would split apart dissimilar things into different species IDs.

I guess it gives taxonomists something to do. It's not unlike the Dilbert principle of management: centralize to optimize performance one year, decentralize to remove bottlenecks another year. Rinse and repeat.

[DNickell]

What a great thread.

As for the question about the scar: If it doesn't get infected these fish are pretty resiliant once settled into a stable tank environment where they aren't picked on. (That one does look picked on!)

I had been holding out for a desjardini for a long time. My LFS routinely has the small zebrosoma. Not long ago someone brought in a larger sailfin than normally seen in the wilds of western Kentucky. It had been picked on severely in their home tank. All the top "sail" was gone and most of the tail--both chewed down till raw meat was showing.

The owner of the store showed it to me, and was pretty disgusted with the customer for having waited so long before deciding to remove the fish to safety. The LFS owner put it in a sump in his back room, fully expecting it to die.

Several weeks later I asked about the fate of the fish. He said it was still alive in his sump and offered to give it to me if I wanted it.

Short version: I now have a sailfin tang about 6.5 inches long doing just fine in my tank. It eats like a proverbial pig and its tail has completely grown back and the top fin is about a quarter inch long and showing signs of continuing to grow. (My kids named the fish "Mohawk.")

There are a few small scars along its sides from early injuries that healed over. There is slight discoloration there, noticible only if you look for it.

So, can your fish survive such a gash? Yes, it CAN. Whether it will depends on many other conditions. Do you have any idea what caused the injury?

Also, I have looked at many photos of the "two" varieties--in books and on-line--and mine looks almost like either of them, but not quite like either. I had wondered if it could be a regional variation, or even a hybrid.

It is a beautiful fish, and very personable. And a great algae eater!

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by DNickell
What a great thread.

As for the question about the scar: If it doesn't get infected these fish are pretty resiliant once settled into a stable tank environment where they aren't picked on. (That one does look picked on!)

I had been holding out for a desjardini for a long time. My LFS routinely has the small zebrosoma. Not long ago someone brought in a larger sailfin than normally seen in the wilds of western Kentucky. It had been picked on severely in their home tank. All the top "sail" was gone and most of the tail--both chewed down till raw meat was showing.

The owner of the store showed it to me, and was pretty disgusted with the customer for having waited so long before deciding to remove the fish to safety. The LFS owner put it in a sump in his back room, fully expecting it to die.

Several weeks later I asked about the fate of the fish. He said it was still alive in his sump and offered to give it to me if I wanted it.

Short version: I now have a sailfin tang about 6.5 inches long doing just fine in my tank. It eats like a proverbial pig and its tail has completely grown back and the top fin is about a quarter inch long and showing signs of continuing to grow. (My kids named the fish "Mohawk.")

There are a few small scars along its sides from early injuries that healed over. There is slight discoloration there, noticible only if you look for it.

So, can your fish survive such a gash? Yes, it CAN. Whether it will depends on many other conditions. Do you have any idea what caused the injury?

Also, I have looked at many photos of the "two" varieties--in books and on-line--and mine looks almost like either of them, but not quite like either. I had wondered if it could be a regional variation, or even a hybrid.

It is a beautiful fish, and very personable. And a great algae eater!

thanks for your reply-----I have had the sailfin for over a year now and I really haven't added any more fish other than a pajama coral since xmas

I think what happened is that it got really stressed--I turned off the main pump when I was hooking up my second fuge and forgot to turn off the koralias in the tank first--they were blowing air in the tank and all fish has vamoosed to their spots in the reef rock. At times in the past when the sailfin gets stressed it just bolts straight across the tank and into the rock work and I think it scraped itself on the reef rock.