I know it’s only September, but let me tell you guys, I love holidays of any and all kinds. So, you can imagine my surprise when I was browsing for a topic today and found a fish species called the Batfish. I was intrigued as Halloween is only about two months away, and it is one of my favorite holidays. I was further excited when I clicked on the link and saw a picture of a BLACK AND ORANGE fish. How could I not write a post about this! I’m not going to lie, this has been the most exciting part of my day so far (which is kind of sad, I know).
The Pinnatus Batfish, also known as 
the Pinnatus Spadefish lives in the Indian Ocean area, often frequenting shipwrecks and dark places where they can hide. As you can see from the picture, these fish have very long dorsal and anal fins and are black or dark brown, rimmed in orange. These fish need a lot of swimming room, and a tank of at least 100 gallons is recommended. In the wild these fish can reach 3 feet in length, but in captivity they’ll generally grow to about 18 inches in length.
However, there is one little detractor to owning these fish. Actually, I guess it’s kind of a big deal. These fish usually die. I’m not lying, when you order these fish, companies generally won’t extend their guarantee because Batfish are so difficult to ship. Many times they’ll arrive dead. If you are lucky enough to have your Batfish arrive alive, getting it to eat is difficult to say the least. These fish just don’t transition well from the wild to an aquarium environment.
If you want to see the Batfish in action, check out this link from Kirya Yoga.com.These aren’t the species of Batfish we’re looking at today, but they’re very closely related. Watching them swim in the wild is super cool! Write me a comment and let me know what you think!