Misaje with an Attitude
by Susan Stacey

A young male Misaje resides in a 2 1/2 Gallon bowl on my desk at work. He’s now alone, because he was unkind to the A. australe and A Ogoense that used to reside with him. I was amazed one day to see him flaring his gills and wagging his tale for no apparent reason. Was he putting on this display for me? I finally realized that he was challenging the snail on the side of the tank. He started by flaring his gills and then turning around and shaking his tail at the snail. He finally turned back around and “head-butted” the snail and it fell to the bottom! I was shocked! Is this normal fish behavior? This has become his main pastime now. There are four snails in the bowl and as soon as one of them makes it up the side of the glass, it is subjected to a fierce display and then wacked with a “nose” until it falls to the bottom. I’m not sure if he is horny, bored, or just itching for a fight, but he gives me hours of amusement as I sit at my computer pretending to work and watching the show! I am curious to know...has anyone else had a fish that bullies snails?