help on tang ID (blue lipped) pic included

[McFred]

I have recently traded 2 frags of brown xenia elongata for a "blue lipped tang". But i have never seen or heard of a blue lipped tang. it is a little ordinary at first glance but its lips are light blue with light blue dots on its body as well as on its gill covers. the coolest thing though is when i saw it in the LFS the first time and it was a dark brownish color so i did not see the blue coloration so i moved on because it looked ordinary. But the second time i passed it it had turned out to be a silver color and the blue markings were much more prominent! it was such a cool color change that i had to rescue it from a fate worse than death at the LFS it was cheap compared to a purple tang.
i can load a pic later tonight buti don't have time now. anyway if anyone has any info on a Blue lipped tang i would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me.
http://rancor.jedi.net/~leiker/jesse/newtang.JPG

[ September 01, 2001: Message edited by: McFred ]

 

[naesco]

Are the blue dots all over the face and body of the tang or are they only on the front 1/3?

 

[naesco]

If the tang you have has blue dots all over her body she is a vlamingi tang which turns out to be a spectacular fish when she becomes an adult.
If the tang you have has blue dots on the front third of his body he is a lopezsi which turns out to be a very ugly fish when he becomes an adult.
Both fish grow very large so you will need a tank over 200 gallons to accomodate it.
If you do a search on www.northernlight.com you can see what they will look like.

 

[llowwelll]

McFred...it looks like it snowed coralline algae on your glass. Kind of a cozy little picture.

 

[davelin315]

That's a juvenile vlamingi tang. It's will grow fairly large (close to a foot I believe) and will get brilliant blues all over. Nice fish.