Improper species identification

[2poor2reef]

I have had a heck of a time trying to obtain an a.maculatus. I got tired of driving long distances to shops that told me they had an a.maculatus only to find when I got there that it was a different species of angler.

Eventually I ordered from a very reputable on-line retailer. Their website identified the fish as a. maculatus. The first delivery was a.multiocellatus. They shipped a replacement free of charge. It was a.maculatus. The fish had ingested air and I lost it. I have heard that can be a problem with this fish. I re-ordered and received another a.multiocellatus. They shipped a replacement free of charge and I received an a.hispidus. They then credited me back for the second charge.

End-result: four fish, one correct identification. The retailer is top notch. They only charged me for one fish. I have no gripe about the order but I do want to understand how pervasive this misidentification of species is within the industry. Where does the problem lie? Is it collectors, distributors or wholesalers that are misidentifying the fish or is it at the retail level? Is this just an unusual event? Are anglers/frogfish terribly hard to identify?

Personally, I was able to identify each fish pretty easily using Scott Michael's Marine Fishes pocket guide and his Reef Fishes Vol 1. Differences in fins, esca, and other traits make them seem pretty easy to id to me. The two biggest concerns I have with ordering fish online is first, I can't see what I'm getting and second, the fish is at risk during shipment. I don't mind not being able to see the individual fish as long as I get the right species. But if my experience with this angler is commonplace, then I think it will be difficult to convince many hobbyists to buy fish online. What do you think?

 

[flameangel1]

Hi,
The improper indentification and your shipping problem,
are very common.
As a retailer, I see this all too often.
"Common names" for animals drive me crazy and in many cases, the wholesalers have no idea what the proper name for an animal is.


If I ask for an Acanthurus Olivacious- I have to tell the wholesaler what the fish looks like and even then its 50/50 which fish will come in.

Blue tang-Hippo tang-Regal tang !!!
Meat -modern -water- neon mumps-wall--lettuce- fat buttons,etc .
Cripes !!
I think they just make up a name for what ever it looks like to them.

Trying to figure out what a wholesale list really means,
is frustrating to say the least.

I once bought the same Gobi, listed under 8 different names !!!!!

 

[naesco]

2 poor 2 reef
Of the four how many died?

 

[2poor2reef]

Just one naesco. It was the one a.maculatus out of the four. Figures.

 

[JeffB]

Some of the wholsellers we buy from are very good at IDing critters but some just dont care and will send you whatever they grab. Once I asked for Xenia and ended up with antheila I mean comon there is a distince difference but I guess when ya deal with as may critters as they bad a day things happen. This was credited to our account and the right one was shipped to the shop the next order BTW

Jeff

 

[Anonymous]

And the fact that most of the people bagging the fish don't speak english only makes it more difficult.

Glenn

 

[MaryHM]

Another problem:

Frogfish probably come from the country of origin as "Asst. Frogfish". I see this a lot on lists, especially from Philippines. Quite frustrating for me as a wholesaler to ascertain exactly what I'm ordering. I try to ID things to the scientific name if it's an unusual item with no real common name. However, I've found it deters many retailers from ordering because they can't pronounce it.