I want to see your biggest lantern bass.

[anemonalex]

Well I have been trying to find a picture or video of a full size lantern basslet. I read that they get 4-5in but I have never see. One bigger then my clownfish.. under 3in. I want to serve the cleaner shrimp eating monsters I read about. They need to get big they are always getting beat up on by my clownfish and spotted watchman.

 

[KrisReef]

I don’t have a lantern bass but I did see a flock of Brown Pelicans

 

[Zionas]

Bump

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, the reported max sizes of these (depending on the site you look at) are 12 cm and 7.4 cm - these guys probably have a few, rare, wild specimens grow to 12 cm, but most probably grow closer 7.4 cm.

In other words, the 4-5" ones likely exist, but they're also probably major statistical outliers (like a person who's over 7' tall - they exist, but they're definitely not common); your average one is likely going to be capped out at ~3".

 

[anemonalex]

Yes but there is photographic evidence of full adult size everything available in this hobby. Why are all the lantern bass 3in. I have seen plenty of pictures of 7ft people. I just want to see a shrimp eater that people claim.

 

[Zionas]

Same for the Harlequin Bass. I’ve seen 4” and 11” listed as the maximum size, the old Scott Michael books have them topping out at 4” though FishBase has them at 11”.

I’d imagine the majority of specimens (fully grown of the dominant sex) of any species even in the wild get to about 3/4 tops (on average) of their listed maximum size or less?

Like for many of Tangs it appears that the smaller Zebrasoma, people who’ve kept them for 20+ years seem to have them remain at about 4.5-5” tops. A 3.5-4” female Clown would be considered pretty big.

Many of the slower growing medium-sized Angels also don’t seem to get near their potential wild size, more like 5-6 maybe 7” tops as I’ve gathered from species like the Majestic, Regal and Flagfin / Goldflake.

There was this Sixbar Angel at an aquarium in France that they had for 40+ years, in a public aquarium sized system it topped out at 12” while the listed maximum size for this “large” large Angel is ~18” so it was 2/3 of its “potential” maximum size.

They did catch an Emperor that was 16-17” in Taiwan, so basically close to / at the FishBase listed maximum size of 18” (45cm), but then I believe in the wild that’s still an anomaly and 10”, maybe up to 12” is a lot more likely for the average adult Emperor.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yes but there is photographic evidence of full adult size everything available in this hobby. Why are all the lantern bass 3in. I have seen plenty of pictures of 7ft people. I just want to see a shrimp eater that people claim.

It's all just statistics - there are billions of people on Earth and we see them everywhere thanks to the internet; since we see more people, we're more likely to see the outliers.

With lantern bass, only a small group of people in the reef-keeping community (which is relatively small by itself) keep them to begin with (they're not a common fish in the hobby), and of the group that does keep them, fewer still will be posting photos of their bass online. So, we have a small group to work with.

So, since the group that might have them and post photos of them is so small (at least comparatively) we only get to see a very small portion of the lantern bass population (unlike the human population, which we see huge numbers of every day) - because the part of the population we see is so small, it's statistically incredibly unlikely that we'll ever see an extreme outlier with the fish in our tanks.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I’d imagine the majority of specimens (fully grown of the dominant sex) of any species even in the wild get to about 3/4 tops (on average) of their listed maximum size or less?

Yeah, for most species, the expected full-grown size would be ~75-90% of the listed maximum, probably around ~80% being most common; for more extreme species, I've seen common adult sizes listed as ~50% of the reported max size.

 

[anemonalex]

Yeah, for most species, the expected full-grown size would be ~75-90% of the listed maximum, probably around ~80% being most common; for more extreme species, I've seen common adult sizes listed as ~50% of the reported max size.

It's all just statistics - there are billions of people on Earth and we see them everywhere thanks to the internet; since we see more people, we're more likely to see the outliers.

With lantern bass, only a small group of people in the reef-keeping community (which is relatively small by itself) keep them to begin with (they're not a common fish in the hobby), and of the group that does keep them, fewer still will be posting photos of their bass online. So, we have a small group to work with.

So, since the group that might have them and post photos of them is so small (at least comparatively) we only get to see a very small portion of the lantern bass population (unlike the human population, which we see huge numbers of every day) - because the part of the population we see is so small, it's statistically incredibly unlikely that we'll ever see an extreme outlier with the fish in our tanks.

I have seen a lot of people post claiming they eat there cleaner shrimp. So that logic is out. I'm sure they get about 4 inches. I just want to see evidence on all these reported claims I see.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I have seen a lot of people post claiming they eat there cleaner shrimp. So that logic is out. I'm sure they get about 4 inches. I just want to see evidence on all these reported claims I see.

Since I've heard of as many or more cases of these being fine with shrimp as I've heard of them potentially eating the shrimp, here are some possible explanations of the discrepancies between reported events:


-Maybe the shrimp were really small when eaten.

-Maybe the shrimp were eaten in multiple bites rather than in one go.

-Maybe the eaten shrimp were actually just molts (this happens commonly enough that I wouldn't be surprised).

-Maybe the fish was a different species and misidentified (this also happens commonly regardless of how easily identified a species is).

-Maybe somebody has beaten the odds and gotten huge members of this species.

-Maybe this species is actually two different cryptic species and one is small and the other large (unlikely in this case, but this sort of thing has been known to happen).

-Maybe the shrimp are only targeted by particularly aggressive or poorly fed specimens.

 

[Doctorgori]

I just lost a 4” specimen, easily 4”
Got a pic of him dead somewhere, I’d have to dig it out

 

[anemonalex]

I just lost a 4” specimen, easily 4”
Got a pic of him dead somewhere, I’d have to dig it out

Sorry for the loss, I would love to see a picture if you find it.

 

[Zionas]

The possibility of having cryptic species is definitely interesting.

Pretty much all the pictures of Chalk Bass online are juveniles, the few pics I’ve seen here of fully grown specimens they do look more like groupers and the Tobacco Bass and they seem to top out more at 4” than the 3” listed online.

 

[Zionas]

Aww that sucks. How did you lose it?

 

[KrisReef]

What the OP seems to be wanting is a picture of a Lantern bass with a shrimp in its mouth?

I think the internet isn't the most reliable place to find information about the maximum size attainable for fish. Most of them show indeterminate growth, meaning they can keep growing bigger and bigger over a life time, and there size is going to reflect food availability, water temperature and other conditions where the fish is living.

I am often amazed at the published size ranges for fishes when I go looking on the internet. The range of experts, liars, and misidentifiers keeps the hobbyists guessing as to who knows what and who to believe.

I Believe that I am getting ready to go to lunch now. The general consensus for fish predation is that if they can get a pray item in their mouth, that occasionally they may try something that moves in front of them when they are hungry.

 

[anemonalex]

No I just want to see one that's over 2 inches, just want to see a full grown fish. You guys are thinking about this one too hard. I know size is relative and how eating works. I am looking for proof. I can't tell if you guys are serious over analysts or messing with me.