All Photos via Mr. Takuta Murakami
On April 1st B-Box, a popular fish store in Japan, posted photos on their blog of a Genicanthus personatus pair they recently received. My initial reaction was shock… I was waiting for that April Fools moment, but it never came.
The last Personatus that was collected was thought to be “bycatch from a shrimp [...]
All Photos via Mr. Takuta Murakami
On April 1st B-Box, a popular fish store in Japan, posted photos on their blog of a Genicanthus personatus pair they recently received. My initial reaction was shock… I was waiting for that April Fools moment, but it never came.
The last Personatus that was collected was thought to be “bycatch from a shrimp trap”. I have not heard that this pair was collected from any of the Hawaiian deepwater divers, hinting this couple may have come from the same source as the last specimen. Other whispers suggest an unknown collector may have snagged these at a new location.
The pair does have some tattered fins, but they are alive and commanding a price just shy of $30,000USD or ¥2,980,000. Odds are they will sell for less than this, but at the moment that is believed to be the asking price. These fish are highly prized in Japan. So much so that one store keeper sold a small female Genicanthus caudovittatus as a Personatus!
The photos you see here are inside B-Box, taken by Mr. Takuta Murakami, chief editor of the popular Japanese magazine Coral Fishes and the Coral Keepers Handbook. Be sure to visit his blog and B-Box showing more photos of this pair. A special thanks to Mr. Murakami and the B-Box Staff for allowing GBD to share these photos with you all.
