Barrel fish or drift fish - rare and unusual fish captured in shallow Virginia waters

Members of our husbandry staff were collecting on the Eastern Shore of Virginia last week and captured an unusual species rarely found in Virginia, especially near shore. This small saltwater fish at first appeared to be gold to orange-ish colored (see below), but overall color is a dubious trait to use for identification. Often fish under stress appear paler than their normal coloration, or may simply be an unusual color morph. It could not be identified in the field by its body shape either: disproportionately large eyes, an unusual fin configuration - stumpy dorsal spines with a larger soft dorsal element - down-turned mouth, and a blunt rounded snout. Thankfully, it was captured undamaged and brought back to the museum alive where we currently have it in one of our quarantine systems.

 The fish immediately upon capture

Just in the tank...

And most recently in its "natural" coloration.

This is obviously a small fish and one that presumably will not be of too much interest in a world of such recognizable and iconic fishes such as sailfish, white sharks and clownfish but that is precisely what is interesting about this little fish. To even verify what I suspected this to be - even the all knowing internet was of no help! - I consulted Dr. Kent Carpenter, a fish systematics expert and author of A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes: from Maine to Texas (my favorite Mid-Atlantic saltwater ID book) and he confirmed it belongs to the Genus Hyperoglyphe and is either a barrelfish or black driftfish, which are very similar species at this life-stage. There is very little information on either species and even less ecological information available (e.g. diet, temperature tolerances, etc); the basis for good husbandry practices. What is known is that they are largely deep water offshore schooling fish as adults, frequent flotsam as juveniles - this one probably came near shore riding along with vegetation - and there is a small market for them as a food fish overseas. Not a whole lot to go on. But so far it has adapted well, eats a large variety of foods, does like to hang out near structure, and is very active, as seen in the video.

So this small, dark, somewhat skittish but ever-wiggly fish is a mini-mystery. Just one of nearly 30,000 fish species from around the world; it has its place in the world but goes almost wholly unnoticed. I am professionally and personally interested in witnessing its growth and behavior and then releasing it back into the ocean where it belongs, to drift off once again into obscurity.