Flazey, the Gluttonous Grouper, Must Catch His Own Supper From Now On

Flazey, the gluttonous grouper that ate $5,000 worth of his tankmates in an Illinois pet shop, has eaten himself out of house and home.

Terry Haley, the aquarium store owner from Lansing, Ill., has grown weary of the insatiable fish and plans to release it Monday in the ocean off Ft. Lauderdale.

The fish’s expensive tastes attracted the attention of the media last May and even earned it an offer to appear on “The Tonight Show.” But Haley refused to take the fish to the studio.

Flazey, whose name--short for fat and lazy--was chosen in a contest for Illinois schoolchildren, was a mere three pounds and a foot long when Haley bought him from a Ft. Lauderdale aquarium. After 1 1/2 years of making meals out of his tankmates, Flazey has grown to 3 1/2 feet and weighs 35 pounds.

In addition to Flazey’s regular diet--five pounds of smelt every other day--the fish devoured dozens of expensive critters on the way to stardom, including a clown trigger fish worth $600.