Need help ID-ing this strange guy

Had no idea it was so disruptive to place stuff into the ocean, heard of some putting moray eels back into the ocean when they get too big. Even taking coral frags and planting them onto the reef.

 

He's about 5" nose to behind, excluding the tail and about four inches wide.

 

I gave him shrimp and he gobbled that up instantly. Will also give him some silver sides and try to find mollusks.

 

Had no idea. Well at least he ate the shrimp so I'm in the clear for now.

 

I didn't mean to come across so serious, but in reality, it's pretty serious. Our hobby can already be blamed for invasive species making into the wrong habitats.

 

I agree, for the past 5 years or so we acquired lion fish in our waters all of a sudden.

 

What some of you don't realize is that Siddique doesn't live in Iowa or Colorado. Trinidad/Tobago is its own source for fantastic tank residents, and I'm sure he isn't importing Fijian animals to stock his aquarium, or buying them at PetSmart. In a situation where one's tank essentially mimics the local sea, and all the residents were locally taken, it's NOT a big deal to release things back into the wild that have been kept in captivity.

 

Is it not due to potential disease and pathogens that it should not be returned to the wild? That would be the biggest issue IMO.

 

If it were in a tank with water from the ocean. Its at an LFS, odds are this tank is part of a system combining more than one tank and odds are there are some animals there that aren't local. I may easily be wrong, I'm just going off of how most LFS are run.

I'd say if this fish is in a tank where EVERYTHING in it is local and not come into contact with the other systems that may keep corals and other animals/algae that aren't local, then it'd be 100% safe to release. Otherwise, is it really worth the risk?