Acanthochromis polyacanthus, Breeding Notes

[Fishboy42]

Morgan Lidster at Inland Aquatics introduced me to the Orange-line Chromis, or Spiny Puller (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) a few years ago at his facility, saying that he had found juveniles of these fish in one of his larger tanks and that we should try them and see what happened. We sourced some broodstock, allowed them to mature, and waited for a spawn. These fish spawn similarly to clownfish except that this fish exhibits direct development (lacks a larval phase), which makes rearing in captivity very easy. The parents care for the eggs and the young post-hatch. They remind me of freshwater cichlids in some ways.

First two pictures are of the parents with the free-swimming young:

Acanthochromis polyacanthus1.jpg

Acanthochromis polyacanthus2.jpg

Here are some young and late-stage juvenile fish in growout:

Acanthochromis polyacanthus3.jpg

Acanthochromis polyacanthus4.jpg

Acanthochromis polyacanthus5.jpg

Acanthochromis polyacanthus6.jpg

These fish lay large adhesive eggs (I've been unable to get a good shot of the eggs but will keep my eyes open for another spawn). The newly-hatched young can be fed live brine from the first day after hatching and are quickly weaned onto non-living frozen foods and then onto commercial dry preparations. Survival is nearly 100% because of the large young, intensive parental care, and ease of feeding. The juveniles look somewhat like a blue-green chromis -- beautiful blue color and with a yellow stripe. The broodstock do seem more comfortable in larger tanks (30g+) due to aggression during spawning, but rearing is easy and can be done with the parents (although they will spawn again more quickly if the juveniles are moved to another tank). The only downside is the larger size and dull coloration of the adults when they mature. This could still be an interesting species for new breeders as a "confidence-building" fish along with the Banggai cardinal. Success makes the hobby more enjoyable for everyone(!) We have only one variant, but there are many localized geographic color variants of this species (the lack of a pelagic larval phase limits the dispersion of young and allows for isolated populations) that might make interesting aquarium animals.

Link to Fishbase article: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?id=6655

Matt C.

[Midnight Angel]

I had these guys a few years back. I almost got more just last week but I really REALLY need to stop buying fish. I'm so happy you have these Matt They are so cute when they are young. I know they get pretty drab but I think this would be the perfect beginner fish. And if it helped take pressure off of any other damsels in the wild that would be great. Good for you And not to sound like a broken record but GO TENNESSEE.......last time I'll do that.


Amy

[Kmiec123]

Very cool...thanks for the write up Matt, and always thanks to Morgan for all his unrecognized work in the hobby!

[WestAusReefer]

Thanks for this post Matt

-Matt

[Luis A M]

Very interesting,Matt.We were missing the coverage of this species,so unusual being a marine fish that breeds like FW cichlids,caring for their large demersal fry.You give a nice portrait of the species with all and nice pics.Hopefully this could make this interesting fish more popular in the hobby.
I could only add some few points:
I think that even if they don´t hatch as pelagic larvae,they are larvae after all.No direct development as with seahorses or banggais.We need to see a pic of a newborn to be sure.While the term "larva"
is seldom used in FW,most of those fish "fry" hatch as larvae,cichlids included.
The yellow line plays a decissive role avoiding agression by their parents.It is seen already in the developing eggs and persists until they leave their parents protection,as large juveniles.
The lack of beauty,agressiveness and large size of the adults explaind their lack of presence in imports.If young juvs are nice as they show in your pics,one can expect a market for them,as happens with Neoglyphidodon damsels.Perhaps some nicer adult colour morphs could also help.One of them is half white,like a Chromis.

[Midnight Angel]

Live Aquaria had these guys just a week ago. Quality Marine still has a few. They go fast. The few people who know about them buy them pretty quick. The problem is most people still don't know. I remember seeing them in one of Gerald Allen's books and wanting them for a couple years before I got mine. They do come through here from time to time. It is always the grey blue type though. I wish we could get the brown and white ones. I should say that I have only seen them sold as orange line chromis. They are always young and so I'm not sure how we could be sure of what they would look like as adults. I don't find them dull as adults though. These type Matt has in his pics often have a pretty purple color in the right light.


Amy

[Ohiocatfish]

Does anyone know how long it takes these guys to reach sexual maturity? I'm interested in getting some but don't know if I should get uber large ones or just start with a group of tiny ones Great write up BTW!!! Go TENN!

Brandon

[Luis A M]

Too bad that the posted pics vanished!
Can posters remove pics at their will,or do they have some "expiration date"?.

[William]

Too bad that the posted pics vanished!
Can posters remove pics at their will,or do they have some "expiration date"?.

The pictures in this post were hosted on sustainableaquatics.com server which we have no control over. So yes, he can remove their pictures at will. If he had used the "Attachment" feature, the pictures would be hosted on our server and would stay around forever.

[Fishboy42]

Sorry about that

It must have been lost when we re-built our website a while back. I'll see if I can dig them up and attach them to the post.

[Suzy]

Wow!

What a great post! Thanks!

[Ohiocatfish]

Bueller?.....Anyone?....Bueller?

[Fishboy42]

Hey Brandon,

I don't have much experience, but our pairs took a couple of years to mature and spawn. Large ones are hard to find, so it might be that you have to purchase a group of young ones to grow-out. Ours were kept as pairs but did fight sometimes while the nest was developing. It might work that you could have a group in a large tank of several hundred gallons or more. We sold all of our Acanthochromis after raising a few clutches. A damsel that is dull as an adult is a hard sell, but it was a fun project.

[Ohiocatfish]

Thank you very much for your insight:-) It does seem much much easier to track down groups of tiny ones than some big old brutes. Always looking for a fun project Again thanks a mil