Who's getting the gem tang?

[agreeive?fish]

gems are beautiful fish but i can get several fish higher on my wish list for what a gem cost and the wife has me on a tighter than tight fish budget until her house is 110% remolded ie food salt and other absolute necessities only and any living creature is not considered a necessity in her opinion

 

[copps]

Dont understand this impossible price....500-600€ in Europe. Why this difference ?

Not long ago there were seasonal fairly regular shipments from Mauritius straight to a European wholesaler, resulting in the price you mention in Europe. In fact, I remember seeing that at this wholesaler the gems were cheaper than Zebrasoma rostratum (the second most rare Zebrasoma). However, times have changed for gemmatum as they have for rostratum, and prices have gone up. Rostratum and gemmatum share many parellels resulting in their high price... the demand has gone up while the supply has gone down... each species has one location where they are exported from, and each species is not found in high population densities at those locations... so it comes down to simple supply and demand... years ago an outlet in Maryland here of all places received shipments direct from Mauritius and offreed gemmatum for $800 to $1000 retail... while they had rostratum for $100 retail...

Aqua-Mauritius can attest to their rarity at Mauritius... only one to two gemmatum going out in each shipment... and while gemmatum are not THAT expensive from the source their, their ultimate retail price is for many reasons... it is not simply a result of shipping as has been mentioned above... you can find many fish retail in the hundred dollar range that originate from Mauritius... that cost the same to ship as gemmatum... Mauritius is expensive to receive from, but the reason they are targeted is simply for Z. gemmatum... and exporters there justifiably know that. They cannot sell and ship just gemmatum and make a living from it, so they sell many other species that are found elsewhere for cheaper with cheaper shipping. From the importer's perspective they put so much work into these shipments and expense to get one of two gemmatum if they are lucky, so they must charge what the market will bear... it has been a while since gemmatum was offered for retail sale like this so PIA is seeing what they market will bear... you cannot blame them for that... no one makes a killing in this business... especially in the current worldwide economy...

One other detail is that this gemmatum is a very rare medium size... just like rostratum usually they are offered very small... when they are not nearly as bulletproof as they are at the ~4" size of this specimen...

With that said... here are a few shots of my gemmatum...

Copps

 

[kvosstra]

Great looking fish John - how long have you had it? I was always concerned, that like the hawaiian chevron tang, the Gem fads a bit in splendor after some time.

I do need to make it down your way one day. Still have the blue squamosa that I shipped you from Cali a few years ago?

 

[copps]

Great looking fish John - how long have you had it? I was always concerned, that like the hawaiian chevron tang, the Gem fads a bit in splendor after some time.

I do need to make it down your way one day. Still have the blue squamosa that I shipped you from Cali a few years ago?

In April the gem will have been with me for four years...

I do still have the blue squamosa, although last year its hinge broke and I have unsuccessfully tried to repair it a few times... for now I have it propped up in my frag tank as I attempt to fix the hinge again... here it is when I had it in one of my displays...

Copps

 

[Vili_Shark]

John, you need to get that clam a larger tank.

The problem with the gem tangs is that importers are getting in a shipment very few fish that are endemic or special morphs.
Instead they are getting many boxes of fish that can easily be bought in Philipines/Indonesia/Sri Lanka/Kenya cheaper price.
So basically the importer is getting 1-2 gem tangs on which he can make money, a few more fish that he can make profit on and then stuck with many other fish on which he will be very lucky to break even, usually at least on some he losses.

So the price of the Gem Tang is cost + profit + some of the lose of these regular fish.

This situation changes only in EU.
The freight from Mauritius to EU is quite cheap and relatively short, so those regular fish are more attractive to EU importers than to let's say Asian or American importers.
Philipines fish will be still cheaper, but gap is much narrower plus the quality is an issue.

 

[shaka]

So did somebody purchase the Gem from PIA?

It's not on their website anymore.

 

[pacislandaqua]

Gem sold a few days ago. !!

We hope to offer a few more smaller ones soon.

aloha

 

[Aqua-Mauritius]

Not long ago there were seasonal fairly regular shipments from Mauritius straight to a European wholesaler, resulting in the price you mention in Europe. In fact, I remember seeing that at this wholesaler the gems were cheaper than Zebrasoma rostratum (the second most rare Zebrasoma). However, times have changed for gemmatum as they have for rostratum, and prices have gone up. Rostratum and gemmatum share many parellels resulting in their high price... the demand has gone up while the supply has gone down... each species has one location where they are exported from, and each species is not found in high population densities at those locations... so it comes down to simple supply and demand... years ago an outlet in Maryland here of all places received shipments direct from Mauritius and offreed gemmatum for $800 to $1000 retail... while they had rostratum for $100 retail...

Aqua-Mauritius can attest to their rarity at Mauritius... only one to two gemmatum going out in each shipment... and while gemmatum are not THAT expensive from the source their, their ultimate retail price is for many reasons... it is not simply a result of shipping as has been mentioned above... you can find many fish retail in the hundred dollar range that originate from Mauritius... that cost the same to ship as gemmatum... Mauritius is expensive to receive from, but the reason they are targeted is simply for Z. gemmatum... and exporters there justifiably know that. They cannot sell and ship just gemmatum and make a living from it, so they sell many other species that are found elsewhere for cheaper with cheaper shipping. From the importer's perspective they put so much work into these shipments and expense to get one of two gemmatum if they are lucky, so they must charge what the market will bear... it has been a while since gemmatum was offered for retail sale like this so PIA is seeing what they market will bear... you cannot blame them for that... no one makes a killing in this business... especially in the current worldwide economy...

One other detail is that this gemmatum is a very rare medium size... just like rostratum usually they are offered very small... when they are not nearly as bulletproof as they are at the ~4" size of this specimen...

Copps

That's in deed a very wise explanation Copps.
From a collectors point of view..............
It would be stupid to take out "every" single gem tang we spot here in Mauritian seas, selling them at bread and butter price......... and then in two years we'll have nothing to sell. + Mauritius island is really a tiny island, with very few collection spots too. Even when the season of Gems kicks off... many of these are rather quite small to travel through 2 days until reaching US soil.

By the way, nice Gem tang you have Copps
What size did u got it? I think u must have got it rather small?

 

[geaux xman]

Kinlayan's gem tang looks awesome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4718100527/in/photostream/

 

[auem]

That's in deed a very wise explanation Copps.
From a collectors point of view..............
It would be stupid to take out "every" single gem tang we spot here in Mauritian seas, selling them at bread and butter price......... and then in two years we'll have nothing to sell. + Mauritius island is really a tiny island, with very few collection spots too. Even when the season of Gems kicks off... many of these are rather quite small to travel through 2 days until reaching US soil.

By the way, nice Gem tang you have Copps
What size did u got it? I think u must have got it rather small?

are there any deep divers in Mauritius anymore??...is there any sighting of Apolemichthys Guezei ever..

 

[Yurivd]

are there any deep divers in Mauritius anymore??...is there any sighting of Apolemichthys Guezei ever..

There has never been one seen in Mauritius

 

[auem]

There has never been one seen in Mauritius

i mean in reunion island..close to mauritius..

 

[copps]

That's in deed a very wise explanation Copps.
From a collectors point of view..............
It would be stupid to take out "every" single gem tang we spot here in Mauritian seas, selling them at bread and butter price......... and then in two years we'll have nothing to sell. + Mauritius island is really a tiny island, with very few collection spots too. Even when the season of Gems kicks off... many of these are rather quite small to travel through 2 days until reaching US soil.

By the way, nice Gem tang you have Copps
What size did u got it? I think u must have got it rather small?

Yup... it was a first year drop for sure when I got it! Plus, Zebrasoma grow slow in captivity...

Kinlayan's gem tang looks awesome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42085951@N06/4718100527/in/photostream/

I believe that's a South African specimen... not from Mauritius...

are there any deep divers in Mauritius anymore??...is there any sighting of Apolemichthys Guezei ever..

The great Daniel Pelicier, original discoverer and collector of Centropyge debelius, is no longer diving deep... and Daniel, nor anyone I know have, has seen A. guezei at Mauritius...

i mean in reunion island..close to mauritius..

I still only know of Hughes Vitry to have the only credible account of a live A. guezei... I was lucky enough to see the one and only holotype specimen used to describe the species when foraging through the Bishop Museum with the great Jack Randall by my side... who described the species the year after I was born! Here's a shot I took... this is the true LEAST known of all angelfish species...

Copps

 

[reefjunkie42]

found on my birthday!

 

[auem]

@copps,
had there been any attempt to document it again for scientific purpose?...truly least known angelfish...
is reunion island reef not diverse enough for study...pacific,being most pristine,get lots of undersea exploration...

 

[Aqua-Mauritius]

@copps,
had there been any attempt to document it again for scientific purpose?...truly least known angelfish...
is reunion island reef not diverse enough for study...pacific,being most pristine,get lots of undersea exploration...

Actually, Copps, When Yuri and I went to meet Daniel Pelicier... I remember he told us, The Guezei Angel was high up on the list of fishes he would love to have caught. He tried several spots to find it in Mauritius and surrounding areas but in vain. According to him It's an Angel who'd be living way beyond the 100m mark, something I won't be surprised too.

Well Auem, Reunion island reef probably more or less have the same diversity of Mauritius, Just that Reunion island is slightly a younger island...... (They have larger Gem tangs less deeper too ):spin1:

 

[auem]

Actually, Copps, When Yuri and I went to meet Daniel Pelicier... I remember he told us, The Guezei Angel was high up on the list of fishes he would love to have caught. He tried several spots to find it in Mauritius and surrounding areas but in vain. According to him It's an Angel who'd be living way beyond the 100m mark, something I won't be surprised too.

Well Auem, Reunion island reef probably more or less have the same diversity of Mauritius, Just that Reunion island is slightly a younger island...... (They have larger Gem tangs less deeper too ):spin1:

is there any gem tang collection there too...?

 

[Yurivd]

is there any gem tang collection there too...?

There is no colecting for the hobby there

 

[Eric the half-bee]

Somebody that's got more cash than common sense?

 

[auem]

for some people hobby is luxury,not other way around....