The Peppermint Angelfish is a captivating species that brings beauty and elegance to the coral reefs it calls home. With its vibrant colors and unique characteristics, this fish has captured the imagination of marine enthusiasts around the world. In this guide, we will dive deep into the world of the Peppermint Angelfish, exploring its various aspects including its habitat, life cycle, care in aquariums, conservation status, and frequently asked questions. So let’s embark on this fascinating journey and discover the secrets of the Peppermint Angelfish together!

Understanding the Peppermint Angelfish

The Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) is a small-sized marine fish that belongs to the family Pomacanthidae. Native to the waters of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, this beautiful creature has become a highly sought-after species in the aquarium trade.

The Peppermint Angelfish is characterized by its strikingly vibrant coloration. Its body is primarily adorned with a gradient of red and white stripes, resembling a peppermint candy, from which it derives its name. The species is relatively small, typically reaching a maximum length of around 4 inches.

Interestingly, the vibrant coloration of the Peppermint Angelfish serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. The bold red and white stripes act as a form of camouflage, allowing the fish to blend seamlessly with the colorful coral reefs it calls home. This adaptation helps the angelfish evade potential predators and increases its chances of survival in its natural habitat.

Characteristics of the Peppermint Angelfish

Aside from its mesmerizing coloration, the Peppermint Angelfish boasts other distinguishing features. It has a laterally compressed body, a pair of long, flowing fins, and a prominent mouth with sharp teeth. These physical attributes enable the fish to maneuver through coral reefs with precision and grace.

It is worth noting that the Peppermint Angelfish possesses a unique ability to change its coloration. This remarkable trait allows the fish to adapt to different environments and blend in with its surroundings. When the angelfish feels threatened or encounters a change in its environment, it can alter its coloration to better suit its needs, providing an additional layer of defense against potential predators.

As with other angelfish species, the Peppermint Angelfish exhibits sexual dimorphism. Males tend to have a more intense coloration and elongated dorsal and anal fins, while females are slightly duller in appearance. This distinction becomes more apparent as the fish matures.

Habitat and Distribution

The Peppermint Angelfish is endemic to the waters surrounding the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It primarily inhabits coral reefs, preferring areas with abundant coral growth and strong water currents. These reefs provide essential shelter and sources of food for the fish.

Due to its limited geographic range, the Peppermint Angelfish is considered a rare and elusive species. It is mainly found at depths ranging from 120 to 180 feet, which adds to its mystique and makes it difficult for divers and researchers to study in its natural habitat.

Within the coral reefs, the Peppermint Angelfish forms symbiotic relationships with various organisms. It often seeks refuge within the intricate branches of coral colonies, benefiting from the shelter they provide. In return, the angelfish helps to control the population of harmful organisms, such as algae, by feeding on them. This mutually beneficial interaction highlights the important role the Peppermint Angelfish plays in maintaining the delicate balance of the coral reef ecosystem.

Furthermore, the Peppermint Angelfish has adapted to thrive in the warm tropical waters of the Marshall Islands. It has developed a specialized respiratory system that allows it to extract oxygen efficiently from the water. This adaptation enables the angelfish to navigate the strong water currents commonly found in its habitat, ensuring its survival in challenging conditions.

In conclusion, the Peppermint Angelfish is a fascinating species that captivates both marine enthusiasts and researchers alike. Its vibrant coloration, unique physical characteristics, and specialized adaptations make it a truly remarkable creature. However, due to its limited distribution and elusive nature, there is still much to be discovered and understood about this captivating fish.

The Life Cycle of the Peppermint Angelfish

The life cycle of the Peppermint Angelfish encompasses various stages, from reproduction to growth and development. Understanding these processes is crucial for those interested in breeding and caring for this species in captivity.

Breeding Habits

The Peppermint Angelfish is known to exhibit monogamous breeding behavior, in which a male and female form a pair bond and engage in courtship rituals. The pair defends a territory and spawns in the early morning hours, releasing their eggs and sperm into the water column.

After fertilization, the eggs are left to float freely in the water. The Peppermint Angelfish, like other angelfish species, engages in pelagic spawning. This means that the eggs drift with the currents, offering them protection from predators until they hatch.

Growth and Development

Upon hatching, the larvae of the Peppermint Angelfish are extremely small and transparent. They undergo a period of rapid growth, feeding primarily on planktonic organisms that are abundant in their natural habitat.

As the juvenile fish develop, their coloration gradually transforms, displaying the iconic red and white stripes that are characteristic of the adult Peppermint Angelfish. The transition from juvenile to adult typically occurs within the first few months of their lives.

SOURCE: ANIMAL ENCYCLOPEDIA   John Brooks

The bleeding heart plant (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) gets its common name from its puffy, heart-shaped pink flowers that dangle from long, arching stems. Beneath the heart shape is a protruding white petal that looks like a drop—hence the “bleeding” in bleeding heart.

The bleeding heart flower’s meaning is said to be about unrequited or rejected love, as well as love and romance in general. Bleeding hearts are shade-loving woodland plants that bloom in the cool of spring. After flowering for several weeks, the plants often become ephemeral, disappearing for the rest of the summer if exposed to too much sun or heat. But the roots stay alive, and bleeding heart will come back every year—regrowing either in the fall or next spring.

Bleeding heart’s size ranges from around 1 to 3 feet high with a similar spread. The plant has a moderate growth rate, reaching its maximum size in around 60 days. Be mindful about where you plant it, as bleeding heart is toxic to people and pets.

Bleeding Heart Care

In a typical growing season, a bleeding heart plant will produce around 20 small flowers on its stems in the spring that stay in bloom for several weeks. Its foliage usually depreciates and enters dormancy in the midsummer heat. This sensitivity to heat makes establishing new plants more challenging in warmer zones than in colder areas.

In addition, the flowers are delicate and require protection from strong winds. The best place to plant a bleeding heart is in an area that has a windbreak as well as some sun protection.

Once established, it’s fairly easy to take care of a bleeding heart plant. It’s not overly prone to pests and diseases. And it has a bit of drought tolerance, though it still prefers moist soil for the healthiest growth. Plus, bleeding hearts will self-seed as long as the blooms remain on the plants. So bleeding hearts can live indefinitely in your garden, yet they don’t tend to spread uncontrollably.

Light

Bleeding heart does best in partial shade but also can handle full shade. Direct sun can cause the plant to go dormant early, cutting its blooming period short.

Soil

Bleeding heart prefers humus-rich, moist, well-draining soil with lots of organic matter. A slightly acidic to neutral soil pH is best. Prior to planting, it’s ideal to work a few inches of compost into the soil, especially if you don’t have organically rich soil.

Water

Bleeding heart likes a lightly moist soil. It doesn’t tolerate soggy or dry soils very well. Water throughout the growing season when the top inch of soil has dried out, even during summer dormancy to keep the roots hydrated. But make sure the soil doesn’t stay waterlogged, which can lead to root rot.

Temperature and Humidity

This plant’s ideal temperature is between 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit, and it has good tolerance for high humidity. As the summer heat ramps up, you’ll likely see the foliage yellowing. This is a perfectly normal sign of the plant going dormant to store its energy.

Fertilizer

Bleeding heart plants are not heavy feeders, so when to fertilize depends on the quality of your soil. If you have rich, organic soil amended every year, you likely won’t have to feed at all. If you have poor soil, you can apply an all-purpose, slow-release fertilizer in the spring. Also, as a woodland plant, bleeding heart does well with a top dressing of leaf mold.

Types of Bleeding Heart

There are several bleeding heart varieties with similar growing characteristics, including:

Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Alba’: Pure white flowers

Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’: Pink flowers and yellow-gold foliage

Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Valentine’: Bright cherry-red blooms with white tips and burgundy stems

SOURCE: THE SPRUCE

Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is one of the most strikingly beautiful birds in the North American forest. With their vibrant red plumage and jet-black wings, they stand out like beacons against the green foliage.

These migratory birds are a common sight in the eastern United States during the summer breeding season.

Breeding Male

Male Scarlet Tanagers have intense crimson-red plumage with black tails and wings. During the non-breeding season, they will molt to more modest colors and resemble a female bird, although they will retain the black wings and tail. They have black eyes and gray bills.

Female

Female Scarlet Tanagers are completely different from their male counterparts and sport dull olive-yellow and olive-green colors. Their wings and tails are darker. Females also have black eyes and gray bills.

Juvenile

Immature and juvenile Scarlet Tanagers are similar to females and are also olive-green above and yellowish below. They leave the nest around 9-15 days after hatching and the parents take care of them for only 2 more weeks after that.

Overall, birds from either sex grow to be about the same size and measure 6.3-6.7 inches in length, weigh around 0.8-1.3 ounces, and have a wingspan of 9.8-11.4 inches.

Habitat

Scarlet Tanagers mostly inhabit mature deciduous or mixed forests but you can also meet them in young successional woodlands, parks, and suburban areas that have a lot of shade trees. For successful breeding, they require at least 10-12 hectares of unfragmented forest.

They build their nest 50 feet or more above the ground on a branch that is shaded by leaves or branches and is away from the trunk. They prefer deciduous trees, especially oak. The nest itself is a flimsy cup made of small twigs, plant stalks, grasses, and other fine plant material.

Diet

Scarlet Tanagers are omnivores, although they prefer to eat insects. In summer, their diet primarily consists of various insects and invertebrates, such as moths, bees, beetles, caterpillars, ants, butterflies, flies, plant lice, termites, grasshoppers, snails, earthworms, spiders, and dragonflies.

You might see them walking along high branches, and on rare occasions on the ground, or clinging to tree trunks and probing the bark, snatching up insects as they go.

They snap up insects from leaves and flowers while hovering or perching, swallowing smaller ones whole but killing larger ones by pressing them against the tree. The birds catch flying insects from mid-air.

The other, but a smaller part of their diet consists of plant matter, specifically fruit, berries, and buds. Some of their preferred food items from this category are mulberries, sumac, huckleberries, blackberries, raspberries, and others. They resort to eating berries and other plant matter when insect populations are low.

Behavior

Scarlet Tanagers are social, but also territorial when it comes to their territories and nests during the breeding season. Males sing to defend their territories, including nests and foraging areas, which can sometimes end in confrontations and chasing.

They are monogamous birds that take care of their younglings, although they switch partners every season, and their parental care lasts for only two weeks after their offspring leave the nest. Males feed their females during nesting season.

Scarlet Tanagers are a prey item to many predators, both aerial and terrestrial. They respond differently to different threats. Tanagers swoop, mob, chase, and call at most predators, but in the case of crows and Merlins, they become quiet and alert, trying to remain unseen.

Range (and seasonal changes)

Scarlet Tanagers range in the eastern part of North America and northern and western South America. They can be seen in eastern Central America during migration.

These birds are not year-round residents and migrate based on the season. They breed in the eastern part of North America, from the southernmost reaches of Canada to northern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, western Carolinas, and Arkansas as far as the deciduous forests go. They migrate mostly at night across the Gulf of Mexico to South America.

Wing shape

Scarlet Tanagers are quite stocky and have short and broad tails, and short but strong wings proportionate to their body. They fly straight with rapid wingbeats to catch insects from the air or hover near branches, trunks, and leaf clusters to snatch up insects.

Fun Facts

When Scarlet Tanagers catch a bee, wasp, or hornet, they scrape it against the tree to remove their stinger.

Scarlet Tanagers face many threats caused by exposure, lack of food, predation, forest fragmentation, and parasitism. For example, Cowbirds lay eggs in their nests if the tanagers don’t notice, and the tanagers can’t tell the difference and raise the Cowbird’s offspring along with their own.

Many cultures and beliefs hold Scarlet Tanagers and tanagers overall in high regard. They’re believed to be sacred birds, a symbol of good luck, hope, and new beginnings.

The oldest known Scarlet Tanager lived to be at least 11 years and 11 months old. However, in the wild, their life expectancy is usually lower.

Vocalization

Scarlet Tanager’s song is a beautiful series of 4-5 chirruping phrases that have a warbling quality to them. Males sing from a higher perch to defend their territory and whereas females sing as well, then their song is softer and has fewer syllables.

Scarlet Tanagers have many different calls for different purposes. The most common and distinctive one is a higher-pitched chick followed by a lower burr sound. They screech when intruders are near and give more indistinctive chips and twitters when nesting, feeding, and communicating.

Source: Birdzilla

African violets are one of the world’s most popular houseplants and for good reason. These compact, low-growing plants flower several times a year, and they are available in a multitude of leaf forms and colors. African violets are distinguished by a rosette of thick, fuzzy leaves and violet-like flowers that bloom just above the evergreen foliage.

Don’t be put off by their reputation for difficulty: providing you follow a few simple rules, African violets should thrive indoors. With a little experience, it’s possible to keep these slow-growing plants in flower nearly all year round and grow them to the size of dinner plates.

African Violet Care

African violets will thrive in bright, warm and humid conditions. Keep water from touching their leaves or it will leave brown spots. Remove dead flowers and leaves as soon as you see them to encourage a healthier plant. Regularly check the soil for excess moisture. This will encourage rot. Growing these houseplants is really a matter of balance; you have to make sure that the different factors that go into their cultivation all are weighted against each other. They should be kept in moist enough conditions that they don’t dry out, yet still exposed to a fresh breeze to avoid letting them get too stuffy, and exposed to sunlight without damaging their leaf tips. Don’t be discouraged if your African violets suffer some damage—it’s all part of the process.

Light

African violets do well in bright but not direct sunlight. They are commonly grown under fluorescent lights placed 12 to 15 inches above the leaves. If the leaves start getting light green, your plant is getting too much light, while thin and dark green leaves or a leggy plant indicate too little light.

Soil

A well-drained potting mix is essential for African violets. Poor drainage can cause root rot, in which the plant becomes waterlogged and its leaves begin to fall, so make sure that the plant is never allowed to be exposed to standing water for an extended period of time.

Water

Keep soil moist with warm water and strive for high humidity. Do not allow water to contact the leaves of the plant to prevent damage, other than light misting. Water from below, or push the water spout into the soil when watering. Don’t allow the plant to sit in water.

Temperature and Humidity

African violets like warm and humid conditions and thrive at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not allow the temperature to fall below about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Do your best to keep the plants away from any drafts in the home.

Fertilizer

Feed with an African violet fertilizer every other week during the spring and summer. For the amount to use, follow product label instructions.

Types of African Violets

The original plants, the S. ionantha, were introduced in Germany in 1893. Shortly after, the S. confusa were introduced when a grower at the nursery noticed subtle differences among some of the plants. Since then, thousands of varieties have been produced. Today, African violets are available in single and double flowers, frilled and different shaped flowers. Their flowers come in all different colors, and the plants have widely varied leaf shapes. They come in both single crown and also multi-crown, trailing plants. These are just a few examples.

‘Persian Prince’ is a miniature-sized plant with scalloped medium green leaves and semidouble dark purple flowers.

‘Lyon’s Lavender Magic’ is standard size with medium green foliage, and white with light purple colored star-shaped flowers that can be single or semi-double and frilled.

‘Hawaiian Pearl’ is a standard size plant with dark green foliage and has a semi-double star shape flower that is ivory with a dark lavender/rose band.

‘Summer Twilight’ has variegated leaves with frilled lilac-purple flowers that have a white edged border.

‘Lonestar Snowstorm’ has variegated leaves with single white frilled flowers.

‘Little Maya’ has dark green foliage with deep crimson red flowers.

SOURCE: THE SPRUCE

The mandarin fish is the most beautiful member of the genus Synchiropus. It is also one of the most breathtaking marine fish ever found in our oceans. It looks more like an intricate painting than it does a fish, with its entire body made up of wavy alternating lines of orange, blue and green.

While commonly known as the mandarin goby and the mandarin fish, its true name is the mandarin dragonet. It is similar to the scooter blenny (Synchiropus ocellatus) in this respect.

Mandarin Dragonets Have Particular Needs

Due to its natural beauty, this fish is heavily collected from throughout the Indo-Pacific. I’ve visited wholesalers with tanks upon tanks filled with mandarin fish, with the vast majority sure to perish within a month.

Sadly, these fishes do very poorly in captivity. They have special dietary needs that are not met by the vast majority of hobbyists. Most pick one up and simply assume they’ll get by like the rest of their fish. This could not be further from the truth. Most hobbyists cannot provide the mandarin with the proper food, and they end up starving to death.

Tank Size

Mandarin dragonets reach a maximum of 4 inches in length. They require a tank no smaller than a 30-gallon if they are accepting prepared foods.

If they are not eating anything you offer them, then you need a large established aquarium with a lot of live rock at a 75-gallon minimum per mandarin.

Temperament

Mandarins are peaceful fish that are well-suited to community tanks. They are only aggressive towards conspecifics, i.e., other mandarins and dragonets like the psychedelic dragonet and the scooter dragonet.

Diet

Getting a mandarin to take prepared foods is one of the most challenging tasks for a hobbyist. In the wild, they are carnivores that constantly scan live rock for small crustaceans such as copepods and munnid isopods. This is all they eat in the wild, and this is where the problem lies. They just don’t eat prepared foods.

Thankfully, there are solutions.

Use a Large, Well-Established Tank

The easiest solution is to house them in a well-established 75-gallon or larger aquarium that is full of copepods. This, then, requires no feeding as the mandarin will simply graze on the existing copepod populations. Smaller tanks cannot have large enough populations to feed a mandarin long-term. They’ll be wiped out in a matter of weeks.

Train Your Mandarin to Accept Prepared Foods

For this, you need frozen and live brine shrimp, preferably adults.

First, get them feeding on live brine shrimp, which is simple enough to do.

Then, mix in frozen artemia with the live ones. Once they start feeding on frozen artemia, slowly scale back on the amount of live brine shrimp you feed.

Eventually, you’ll be able to feed them exclusively on frozen brine shrimp.

But your work isn’t over yet. You need to get them on something nutritious like mysis shrimp, krill and a good pellet.

Start mixing in mysis with the frozen brine.

Do the same for all the other foods.

Breeding

Mandarin dragonets have been bred in captivity. They are pelagic spawners, which means the male and female both rise up into the water column to release eggs and sperm. Raising their larvae is a tough job that requires live rotifers, live brine shrimp and phytoplankton cultures.

Identifying Males and Females

If you want a pair of mandarins, buy a male and a female and put them together. The very first dorsal spine in males is very elongated and can be seen clearly. Females lack an elongated spine.

SOURCE: PETHELPFUL

A Morpho Butterfly (Morpho menelaus), is one of over 80 described species of butterflies that reside in the rainforests. Morpho butterflies are neotropical butterflies found mostly in Central America as well as Mexico and South America including Brazil, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Morpho Butterflies dwell in the forest canopy layer and rarely come near the under story and forest floor layers.

However, they have sometimes been observed flying near the ground in clearings.

Morpho Butterfly Characteristics

Morpho butterflies range in wingspan from the 3 inches to the larger 8 inches of the Sunset Morpho (M. hecuba).

Many Morpho butterflies are colored in metallic, shimmering shades of blue and green on the upper wing surface. The underside of the wings resembles foliage, with mottled brown, greys, blacks and reds. The female Morpho butterfly is less vivid than the male. The males bright coloring is designed to intimidate any rivals that might fly into his territory. The male’s wings reflect the bright, iridescent color over an extremely wide angle, to maximize its visibility in the rainforest.

These colors are not a result of pigmentation but rather are an example of iridescence (an optical phenomenon characterized as the property of surfaces in which hue changes according to the angle from which the surface is viewed). The colors produced vary with viewing angle, however they are actually surprisingly uniform, perhaps due to the tetrahedral (diamond-like) structural arrangement of the scales. This structure may be called a ‘photonic crystal’.

The ventral side is decorated with ‘ocelli’ or eyespots. Not all Morpho butterflies have iridescent coloration, however, they all have ocelli. The eyes of Morpho butterflies are thought to be highly sensitive to UV light and therefore the males are able to see each other from great distances.

There also exists a number of white Morpho species. An unusual species that is white in coloration, but which exhibits a stunning purple iridescence when viewed at certain angles. The metallic blue Morpho species (M. rhetenor) stands out as the most iridescence of all.

Morpho Butterfly Habitat

Morpho butterflies are forest dwellers but will venture into sunny clearings in order to warm themselves. Males are territorial and will chase any would-be rivals.

Morpho Butterfly Diet

The Morpho butterfly drinks its food rather than eats it. It uses its proboscis (long, protruding mouth part) to drink sap and fruit juices. Morpho butterflies taste with sensors on their legs and taste-smell the air with their antennae. Morpho butterflies feed on the juices of fermenting fruit with which they may also be lured. The inebriated butterflies wobble in flight and are easy to catch. Morphos will also feed on the bodily fluids of dead animals and on fungi. Therefore, Morpho butterflies may be important in dispersing fungal spores.

Morpho Butterfly Behavior

Morpho butterflies are diurnally active (active during the day) and have the capability of ‘crypis’, meaning when they sleep at night, they fold their wings so that only the dark underside is seen, making them less visible to predators. It also has a ‘flashing’ defense mechanism, meaning, due to the slow beating pace of their wings, the iridescent blue is flashed and then disappears as the wings are raised only to return in another place in a short while. This causes predators to lose track of the Morpho butterfly when it is flying as they only glimpse blue flashes as the brown underside makes them invisible in the thick foliage of the jungle.

Morpho Butterfly Reproduction

Like all butterflies, Morpho butterflies pass through four distinct phases of metamorphosis.

First, the pale green eggs that resemble dewdrops hatch into larvae, better known as caterpillars. The caterpillar is red-brown with bright patches of lime-green on its back and has stinging hairs. The hairy brown caterpillars feed on a variety of leguminous plants (a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually opens along a seam on two sides). In some species the caterpillars are cannibalistic. If disturbed, some Morpho caterpillars will secrete a fluid smelling of rancid butter. The tufts of hair decorating the caterpillars have been recorded to irritate human skin.

After a while, the caterpillars wrap themselves in a protective enclosure, called a chrysalis. At this stage the insects are called pupae. After some time, pupation ends and the mature butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.

The entire life cycle of the Morpho butterfly, from egg to death, is approximately 137 days. The adults live for about a month. They have few predators as the adults are poisonous due to the feeding caterpillar sequestering poisonous compounds (the process of animals accumulating poisonous compounds from the food they are eating in order to become poisonous themselves for their predators). But like all butterflies, adult morphos were plant-chomping caterpillars as youngsters. Blue morpho caterpillars are especially fond of leaves in the pea family.

SOURCE: ANIMAL CORNER