A White Tang? True or False?
- Thread starter eaglephot
- Start date
lion_crazz
Active Member
There is a white-faced tang, and there are many tangs that are an off-white color, but I have never heard of a "white tang".
sebae09
Member
hes right, all species have an odd albino that comes around every once and a while but i think they are infertile so they cant have offspring. most dont survive to adulthood due to their white coloring and not being able to camoflauge somewhat. i would be surprised if you got ahold of one, normally plublic aquariums get the oddballs, like the lobster thats half molted and half cooked in color.
even humans have the odd pail white ones, Ginger kids lol. im sorry if i offended anyone i was not trying to i was simply jokeing. please accept my appology.
even humans have the odd pail white ones, Ginger kids lol. im sorry if i offended anyone i was not trying to i was simply jokeing. please accept my appology.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
The term "white tang" is used to describe a melanistic variant of Zebrasoma flavescens (or yellow tang) that is collected in Hawaii... these are uber-rare, and many people dive their lives away in Hawaii and never see one. They've entered the hobby here and there through the years at very high prices... I've compiled a few images of these guys... each is an individual shown a different amount of melanism... They are perfectly healthy otherwise, and retain their color in captivity...
Many aberations are common through the seven species of Zebrasoma... I have this yellow form of Zebrasoma scopas... the most yellow I've seen...
The black tang mentioned above is Zebrasoma rostratum and while it has a range beyond Christmas Island in the Pacific, that is the only place it's regularly collected... I've got two of these guys.. one now about six inches I've had for years that's in the center of this shot... taken with flash under actinics only at feeding time...
I also recently added this little black tang to a smaller system this past weekend... he;s about two inches...
The rarest of the seven Zebrasoma (black tangs are the second rarest) is Zebrasoma gemmatum... the gem tang... this guy is not mine...
Some other Zebrasoma variants are shown below...
A whacky scopas...
A whacky variant that at least has some Z. rostratum in him judging from the nose length...
My favorite example of melanism is shown in my favorite angel... the regal... these guys are collected in the Maldives and usually go to Japan... I've heard of one that came to the states and wholesaled for $1500 in LA... I have a trio of Red Sea regular guys, but it'd be great to add one of these...
Many aberations are common through the seven species of Zebrasoma... I have this yellow form of Zebrasoma scopas... the most yellow I've seen...
The black tang mentioned above is Zebrasoma rostratum and while it has a range beyond Christmas Island in the Pacific, that is the only place it's regularly collected... I've got two of these guys.. one now about six inches I've had for years that's in the center of this shot... taken with flash under actinics only at feeding time...
I also recently added this little black tang to a smaller system this past weekend... he;s about two inches...
The rarest of the seven Zebrasoma (black tangs are the second rarest) is Zebrasoma gemmatum... the gem tang... this guy is not mine...
Some other Zebrasoma variants are shown below...
A whacky scopas...
A whacky variant that at least has some Z. rostratum in him judging from the nose length...
My favorite example of melanism is shown in my favorite angel... the regal... these guys are collected in the Maldives and usually go to Japan... I've heard of one that came to the states and wholesaled for $1500 in LA... I have a trio of Red Sea regular guys, but it'd be great to add one of these...
N
nereef
Guest
wow, johny. thanks for the info and the great pics.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
No sweat... This info I've gained through the years has to go somewhere... God knows my wife could care less!
N
nereef
Guest
haha, i know how you feel. my girlfriend has no interest whatsoever in the hobby.
where did you get the scopus? do you have a wholesaler's liscense?
where did you get the scopus? do you have a wholesaler's liscense?
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
The scopas I got a while back from another online vendor in the WYSIWYG section. I've seen a few yellow scopas but this guy is worth the dough... call him my poor man's gem tang... I have no wholesaler's license... The yellow scopas however are now fairly regularly available... although like all variants they are individually colored... The wholesale price has dropped on them and a good LFS should be able to find you one for around the price of a purple tang... Here's another shot of him...
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
The gem tang is a valid species... it's got a very limted range in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa... while it's found in other locales, the only place it's collected is the tiny island of Mauritius of the East Coast of Madagascar... where it's exported in very limited numbers by one exporter... Shipping costs an insane amount from there also... Also from Mauritius is one of the rarest dwarf angels out there... Centropyge debelius... I've witnessed these at the facility and home of the one guy in the world breeding angels... Frank Baensch of RCT Hawaii who I've become friends with over the years. It was the toughest species he's done yet and the few babies he sold went for $4500 all to Japan... Cute little guys though... These are found in very deep water and each year the number that are collected could be counted on one hand, and wild specimens in Japan have gone for more than the captive raised ones went for...
And a full grown adult...
And a full grown adult...
lion_crazz
Active Member
Johnny, it is nice to see you around and still posting here! Thanks for providing all the information that you did (as well as the fantastic pictures of the fish).
xdave
Active Member
That yellow scopas looks pretty cool. When I worked at a distributor we used to see weird colorations all the time. Usually one of us would buy them then auction them off at a fish show. Due to them being so strikingly colored anyway, even anti-camouflaged, marine fish are one of the few forms of life where an albino or any other color variation can survive in it's natural environment.
brooklyn johnny
Active Member
People are still voting "No way" :notsure:
Originally Posted by clintjj
I bought a tang from a guy who was moving $5 and it was almost snow white. After about two months of being in my tank he turned a bright yellow. that is the closest i've seen to a pure white one
This is common with stressed yellow tangs kept alot f time under high organics... many times they'll live, but not thrive... sort of the reason many times people's fish are healthier in reefs as opposed to FOWLR... simply put, corals will not put up with it...
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Johnny, it is nice to see you around and still posting here! Thanks for providing all the information that you did (as well as the fantastic pictures of the fish).
Thank you! It's tough for me nowadays with a 16 month old and 600 gallons of reefs in the house... When I was growing up in the hobby images like these were few and far between... have to love the internet age... I've got too many images of too many things!
Originally Posted by Johnbob
Wow all of these fish are amazing. Especially that angel, but I don't have $4500 dollars to spend on a fish.
This fish was produced by Frank in very limited numbers after much work and little output. The female of the broodstock pair was hand fed by him for months after receiving them from a Japanese hobbyist in horrible shape... The work paid off, and he made history again... I was just out in Hawaii again in October and met with Frank as I try and do each trip out there... this man is a pioneer and in 50 years the hobby will have benefitted much more from people like Frank rather than those who are worried about what they'll name their next LE coral... Here's the man behind the mission (I'm on the left) in his living room a couple of months ago... note the wicked cool Queen angel pillow...
I recently received some excellent fish from him...
Originally Posted by xDave
That yellow scopas looks pretty cool. When I worked at a distributor we used to see weird colorations all the time. Usually one of us would buy them then auction them off at a fish show. Due to them being so strikingly colored anyway, even anti-camouflaged, marine fish are one of the few forms of life where an albino or any other color variation can survive in it's natural environment.
I'm beginning to think that these yellow scopas are a localized population found in one of the ever increasing new collection areas... the price and frequency their coming in at makes me think that their not individual variants in a common population... like the white tang... Anyway... here's another shot of one of the white variants... sort of a half and half...
Originally Posted by clintjj
I bought a tang from a guy who was moving $5 and it was almost snow white. After about two months of being in my tank he turned a bright yellow. that is the closest i've seen to a pure white one
This is common with stressed yellow tangs kept alot f time under high organics... many times they'll live, but not thrive... sort of the reason many times people's fish are healthier in reefs as opposed to FOWLR... simply put, corals will not put up with it...
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Johnny, it is nice to see you around and still posting here! Thanks for providing all the information that you did (as well as the fantastic pictures of the fish).
Thank you! It's tough for me nowadays with a 16 month old and 600 gallons of reefs in the house... When I was growing up in the hobby images like these were few and far between... have to love the internet age... I've got too many images of too many things!
Originally Posted by Johnbob
Wow all of these fish are amazing. Especially that angel, but I don't have $4500 dollars to spend on a fish.
This fish was produced by Frank in very limited numbers after much work and little output. The female of the broodstock pair was hand fed by him for months after receiving them from a Japanese hobbyist in horrible shape... The work paid off, and he made history again... I was just out in Hawaii again in October and met with Frank as I try and do each trip out there... this man is a pioneer and in 50 years the hobby will have benefitted much more from people like Frank rather than those who are worried about what they'll name their next LE coral... Here's the man behind the mission (I'm on the left) in his living room a couple of months ago... note the wicked cool Queen angel pillow...
Originally Posted by xDave
That yellow scopas looks pretty cool. When I worked at a distributor we used to see weird colorations all the time. Usually one of us would buy them then auction them off at a fish show. Due to them being so strikingly colored anyway, even anti-camouflaged, marine fish are one of the few forms of life where an albino or any other color variation can survive in it's natural environment.
I'm beginning to think that these yellow scopas are a localized population found in one of the ever increasing new collection areas... the price and frequency their coming in at makes me think that their not individual variants in a common population... like the white tang... Anyway... here's another shot of one of the white variants... sort of a half and half...
