Epaulette feeding pics

Zoodiver

As seen on TV
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2005
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Took these yesterday while she was crawling around and hunting in the sand. Still searching for a sexually mature male....if anyone wants to donate one for breeding. :)





White spotted bamboo photo bomb!! Haha











 

Cu455

Fire Eel
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Mar 8, 2011
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Great pictures, his head reminds me of lizard from Spiderman. Are his cheeks always puffed up like the first picture or does he have food in his mouth? Did you hide the food in the sand?
 

Zoodiver

As seen on TV
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Aug 22, 2005
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Food ends up mixed into the sand when all the other fish eat. They get their normal food, and then act as a clean up crew on the bottom. There are a bunch of white spotted bamboos in there with her.
What you are seeing in the first pic is just the gills puffer out while she is breathing.
 

krj-1168

Fire Eel
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Aug 25, 2006
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Hemiscyllium ocellatum.
Nope -it's definitely not a Ocellated Eppie (H. ocellatum). Which is the reason I asked the question - in the first place. Although I don't doubt it was sold as the Ocellated Epaulette. Since most epaulettes sold in the U.S. are sold as Ocellated Epaulettes - even if they are really another species. It actually looks like some the pictures I've seen for H. galei which was discovered in 2008.
 

kgmcpheeters

Feeder Fish
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Nov 26, 2013
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I agree it has unusual patterning and does resemble galei, but without knowing where it was collected or running DNA samples we cant be sure. I can't imagine anyone would go through the trouble to collect and export from PNG only to sell the animals as much more common and less expensive fish, though I suppose anything is possible. Matt, any idea where your shark was collected?
 

kgmcpheeters

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 26, 2013
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Any input, Matt? If it is something other than H. ocellatum I'd be fascinated to hear how she got here! I've been searching high and low for H. hallstromi to no avail, so would love to hear how you got ahold of a more rare PNG shark. If she is ocellatum, ERI also has one for sale...
 
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