<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11634325#post11634325 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GreshamH
To be honest, I'd have to check my emails as it's been pushed back a few times and I have a few dates stuck in my head :lol:
The longest journey for them will be the trip back from the islands. Once they land it's just a few days till they are shipped out. There really isn't much time for them to be fed prior to be shipped and still be cleaned out for shipping.
We have no problem shipping XXL Passers, Clarions or Cortez's from Baja. No different then the smaller fish except much larger bags(2 to a box). The flight it so short they barely need acclimation and fight right out of the bag if given the chance :lol:
this guy was like a foot tip to tail
this guy was over a foot
this guy was like 8"
Gorgeous photos Gresham... for those who do not know these photos, from top to bottom these show a Holacanthus clarionensis/ Holacanthus passer hybrid, a xanthic color morph of Holacanthus passer, and a full blooded Holacanthus clarionensis.
Gresham, in regards to no collection of large adults, I think Steve was referring to the difficulty of moving larger individuals in the boat back... that would make sense... I don't know... who cares... let Hong Kong complain about that!
Anyway, here's a shot of the size that with luck will make it stateside... the beautiful subadult coloration (like your sweet avatar Trig!)...
The major populations if H. clarionensis are found in the Revillagigedos Islands (including their namesake Clarion Island), which are about 250 miles southwest of the Southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico (Cabo San Lucas). The fish is common in this island chain. Larval drift to the area of Cabo San Lucas has resulted in a small population of clarions there, which breed into the Holacanthis passer population resulting in hybrids like the one above. Holacanthus passer is absent from the Revillagigedos, so these hybrids always come from the mainland... a prominent ichthyologist put it to me this way... he compared it to a few million years ago when **** sapiens possibly lived alongside **** neanderthalis... imagine getting stuck with a tribe of neanderthals for a while... after a while they'd start to look pretty good if you had nothing else!
Despite being in the Holacanthus genus, they grow to half the size of their Atlantic cousins the queen and the blue (the documentation says 8", but I think larger... Gresham?). Famed ichthyologist Dr. Gerry Allen also documented clarions from a third location at Clipperton Island 600 miles south of the Revillagigedos (very rare and believed to be waifs). Clipperton is the tiny home of the third and last Holacanthus of the Pacific, Holacanthus limbaughi. A vision of this hybrid is exciting also!
I just broke out my "Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World" book published by Dr. Allen in 1985, which has Holacanthus clarionensis on the cover. A line from the clarion section says, "Although rarely seen in Europe, the Clarion Angelfish is frequently available to American hobbyists." Yes this is one of the very few fish that has become less available in the industry!
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11634388#post11634388 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnc914
I think my wife would literally murder me if i even mentioned paying that much for a fish. They are a gorgeous fish but not for that price tag, I don't have that deep of pockets plus the U.S. is unknowingly in a recession. Save your money for when we are paying $5+ for a gallon of gas this summer. Hate to be a downer, but to spend that much on something that could potentially die upon being put in your tank is too risky and not financially feasible for the average saltwater hobbiest(although for all I know you guys might be millionaires). For those getting these secret shipments, are there any guarantees being offered?
BTW, even though I just had a semi-rant, please post pics of your new additions once you get them.
JNC, I don't think anyone is saying these fish are for the average saltwater hobbyist. For many of us we idolized these fish growing up... for me fish like Centropyge resplendens, Pomacanthus asfur (yes this was rare along with other Red Sea imports), Pomacanthus chrysurus, Chaetodontoplus conspicillatus and Holacanthus clarionensis I looked up at like they were Ferraris... never thinking I'd have the opportunity to own them... for all I knew these were a million dollars! When I worked a LFS in high school I remember getting in a black tang for the first time... I would have been less surprised to see E.T. in the bag! In those days I got all amped up and excited about fish like a majestic angel! That same childish excitement I get in these fish listed above, and the only one I don't have yet is the clarion...
For those of us who are far from millionaires it is an expensive purchase, but quite honestly buddies of mine blow more in Vegas over a weekend... the enjoyment I get from these fish is well worth the price. Yes they are living creatures and die, and whether that's in 1 or 15 years, you're paying for the experience... and for those of us with a passion for these fish it's an honor to even get the opportunity to purchase such a beauty...
This is getting more exciting...
Copps
