10 replies to this topic

[Tired]

I'm going to be heading to Port Aransas in April, both to go birding and to collect a few critters for my reef aquarium. I'm mostly looking for periwinkles and green porcelain crabs, but I'm also hoping to catch a Molly Miller blenny. Does anyone happen to have any advice for how best to find and catch those? I assume either a dip net or a tiny hook is most effective. 

[Chasmodes]

I collect blennies in Maryland, so I'm assuming that my techniques would work. If you find oyster shells, or other types of shells, use a dipnet to scoop them up and check inside them. Jonah's Aquarium's Perfect Dipnet is my favorite. If your collecting off of docks and the water is deep, then I recommend getting handle extensions too. Also, you might find them in weed beds, so try scooping them too. Fish traps work well also. I use locally sold razor clams and crush them up to put in the trap. They're useful in places where large dipnets aren't effective, like around rip rap. For adult sized blennies, you could also try microfishing for them, but so far I haven't had to do that as of yet.

 

If your snorkeling or diving, there are other methods but I don't so those, at least yet.

 

Good luck!

[Moontanman]

Molly Miller blennies are kind of hit and miss around here, Chasmodes has had some good luck and has videos about it. Check out his stuff on youtube! 

[Chasmodes]

Also, as good as dipnets are or seining nets, if youre actually collecting on an oyster reef, the netting will hang up on the oysters, and possibly cut the netting, which could be expensive if you have a good dipnet or seine. however, I think a fish trap would work really well on an oyster reef. The places I collect are places where people dump oyster shells or clam shells after shucking them for food. Waterman in my area often do that as well as locals at the local boat landings. Blennies use that habitat as well. So you don't actually have to collect on an oyster reef. Also, maybe finding fish in grass beds or something like that might be worthwhile. Molly Millers probably blend in very well in the lagoon like that, especially if there are shells to hide in, like empty snails, welk or conch shells. Another thing that might be worth doing is checking tide pools and look for empty shells like the ones I talk about above, picking them up and checking them for blennies inside. Also look for bottles, blennies love hiding in there too. Good luck!

[Tired]

(whoops, I forgot I'd made this post here.)

 

This channel? Really useful to see the technique there, I'll have to try that out. Those poor mummichogs getting dumped in an empty bin, though. 

 

I have no desire to collect on an actual oyster reef. Those things are far too sharp and far too maybe-bacteria-laden for me to go anywhere near. I found a spot called Goose Island State Park that's near the wildlife refuge I'll be birding in, and it looks like they have a reasonable variety of habitat to check in. Marsh grass, a pier people have probably been dumping shells off of, that sort of thing. 

 

Skilletfish can eat prey nearly as large as themselves, right? They're cute little suckers, but I feel I'd wind up with a very fat skilletfish and not much else in the tank.

 

Any tips for keeping the collection bin cool? Am I best off frequently transferring things to a cooler in the car? 

[Chasmodes]

Yeah, that's my channel. Those poor mummichogs went to good use as bait for some local guys. It was a goodwill gesture so that they'd let me collect around where they were fishing. They were the only batch that we caught that we gave away, the rest were released unharmed. And, that was the only time that I've ever emptied a trap in an observation tank without water.

 

I had a skilletfish eat a juvenile blenny one time, but other than that one time, I've never had a problem with keeping them with blennies or gobies. They will eat grass shrimp and rainwater killies, so you're correct, keep them with fish at least their size. Blennies are tough little critters and can fend for themselves, but a 1" blenny is no match for a 1.5" skilletfish. However, a 3" blenny will hold it's own against a 3" skilletfish, just to give you an idea. Prey species like small killies are a different story. I keep adult blennies, naked gobies, skilletfish, mummichogs, spot, and sheepshead minnows in my tank without any problems. Adult silversides will be killed and devoured by all, by the way. I currently have a grow out tank with 1.5-2" blennies, skilletfish and naked gobies that I caught this past summer and nobody has been eaten, all accounted for.

 

I keep my collection bin in my truck with an aerator. I'm usually close to the water for easy water changes, but you could put a frozen pack in there if you wish. My collection bin is simply an old cooler. Inside my truck, it's in the shade, so if I'm keeping something, I immediately move it to my cooler in my truck. My observation tank gets dumped about every other scoop because it gets muddy after going through the shells and weeds. If I'm keeping shells or macroalgae, I just keep them in a bucket with a little water.

[Tired]

I actually have some guppies going into this tank, which are basically the ultimate prey fish, and I imagine even a baby skilletfish would gobble those up no problem. Especially if they'll snag killifish. 

 

How active are skilletfish? I have a HOB refugium I could keep one in, which is a space about 12" long, 12" tall, and 4" deep. Normally I wouldn't put a fish in there, but I've seen these little fellows a time or two at my local fish shop, and they seem to pretty much stick to one spot. They also seem to move up and down along the glass a lot rather than swimming in open water, so one could actually make use of that space.

 

Oo, a cold pack is a good idea. We have some nice ones that stay at a moderate temperature, for use on joints, rather than the food type- I could stick one of those in a plastic bag to keep it dry. 

 

Thanks for the tips! I'll make sure to update with whatever I catch. This is for a reef tank with some personal catches, not a biotope, but native creatures are native creatures regardless. Except the green porcelains, which are, if I remember right, invasive. They'd probably also be on oystershells, waving for food like strange little barnacles. 

Edited by Tired, 03 April 2023 - 09:07 AM.

[Chasmodes]

I'd hit the like button if I could. 

 

Incidentally, I came across this article and their collection spot was in the area that you're looking to collect: https://oaktrust.lib...e=1&isAllowed=y  They collected molly millers (Scartella cristata). Maybe you know this spot or somewhere similar. I kept a Molly Miller years ago and loved that fish. It had a routine, travelling across the tank to the same perching spots all day long until feeding time. They have a wonderful personality. You might also find some Stretchjaw Blenny (Chasmodes longimaxilla), the cousin of the ones that I collect. They're found along the Gulf Coast from Florida to the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

 

You may come across several other species of really cool blennies too. That area is a hot spot for blenny collecting from what I've heard.

 

My skilletfish are very active. Males will stick close to their oyster shell to guard eggs, but otherwise, they get out and look for each other, and also browse for food. The do spend time on the glass, but that's usually when they're begging for food. They get to know you LOL. You could probably keep a few of them in there if you have good filtration, etc. They eat frozen or prepared foods, not picky. Maybe start with frozen food first, then work in dry food. Blennies are the same way.

 

Good luck collecting and share pics of your tank(s) when you find some!

[Tired]

Oh, interesting article, thanks. I do know that spot, although I'm going to be staying somewhere rather far from it for this particular trip. I may have to take a page from their book and try looking after dark, since they apparently were able to hand-catch blennies after dark.

 

I'm hoping for specifically a Molly Miller as they should leave corals alone, and don't grow large enough to eat any of the fish kept with them. Though I suppose a Stretchjaw may also ignore corals; they look to have more of an engulfing-prey mouth than a picking-at-surfaces mouth, and fish of that mouth structure usually don't pick at corals. This is only a 45-gallon tank, so I don't think I have room for two similar blennies to coexist.

 

Let's see if these photos will show up at all.

https://cdn.discorda...E5BC9BA358F.jpg

https://cdn.discorda...517C461C28E.jpg

This is the refugium. It's essentially a very large HOB filter, so the water from the main tank is circulating through it. I will of course be adding far more hiding places- this was a couple of quick pieces of cover for a small crab I moved into the 'fuge.

 

Thank you, I'll be sure to share whatever I get! Though it might just wind up being some snails.  

[Chasmodes]

Very cool!

 

A stretchjaw wouldn't bother corals, and you're exactly right, the mouth gives them away. I don't have corals, but have kept a couple species of local anemone, and they only kill them if they invade their oyster shell. They're 99% predators, eating mostly worms and crustaceans in the wild. In my tank, Chasmodes bosquianus, the stretchjaw close cousin, I've only rarely seen them pick at algae, and I have to wonder if a food morsel was in there. I would only be wary of adding them if you have ornamental shrimp. They will kill and eat smaller shrimp, large ones might be OK. I've seen them attack and kill small mud crabs too but they leave larger ones alone. I saw two of them attack, kill, and eat a silverside that was over 3" long, so, some fish could be vulnerable, including fry of any species.

 

You might be OK if you had 2 different species in a 45. I can't speak to that with molly millers, but I've seen feather blennies coexist with Chasmodes (striped blennies) in a local aquarium's oyster reef tank. If the same species, with Chasmodes, I've kept as many as 8 adults (5 males and 3 females) in a 20g. It works if you have a lot of hiding spaces and escape routes (like an oyster reef). Males are territorial of their space (usually an oyster shell) and will chase off other males from their 8-10" radius. Females are always chased and bullied by the males, because that's what male blennies do. They tolerate them at mating time, but other than that, they chase them away. Females are always moving around the tank.

 

I've seen YT videos with a hundred or more molly millers that were bred in captivity together. So maybe having more than two would work better than just two, or just keep one to be safe.

[simon727]

Very cool!

 

A stretchjaw wouldn't bother corals, and you're exactly right, the mouth gives them away. I don't have corals, but have kept a couple species of local anemone, and they only kill them if they invade their oyster shell. They're 99% predators, eating mostly worms and crustaceans in the wild. In my tank, Chasmodes bosquianus, the stretchjaw close cousin, I've only rarely seen them pick at algae, and I have to wonder if a food morsel was in there. I would only be wary of adding them if you have ornamental shrimp. They will kill and eat smaller shrimp, large ones might be OK. I've seen them attack and kill small mud crabs too but they leave larger ones alone. I saw two of them attack, kill, and eat a silverside that was over 3" long, so, some fish could be vulnerable, including fry of any species. https://sharpedgesho...board-800x400mm

 

You might be OK if you had 2 different species in a 45. I can't speak to that with molly millers, but I've seen feather blennies coexist with Chasmodes (striped blennies) in a local aquarium's oyster reef tank. If the same species, with Chasmodes, I've kept as many as 8 adults (5 males and 3 females) in a 20g. It works if you have a lot of hiding spaces and escape routes (like an oyster reef). Males are territorial of their space (usually an oyster shell) and will chase off other males from their 8-10" radius. Females are always chased and bullied by the males, because that's what male blennies do. They tolerate them at mating time, but other than that, they chase them away. Females are always moving around the tank.

 

I've seen YT videos with a hundred or more molly millers that were bred in captivity together. So maybe having more than two would work better than just two, or just keep one to be safe.

This is such a detailed and insightful explanation