The Ballina Angelfish (Chaetodontoplus ballinae) was only known from one specimen that was trawled up in 1959 and then described as a new species by Gilbert Whitley (See holotype image here). Fast forward to the 90s and only a handful had been seen. Prior to the NORFAZ expedition in 1993 only two specimens were known [...]
The Ballina Angelfish (Chaetodontoplus ballinae) was only known from one specimen that was trawled up in 1959 and then described as a new species by Gilbert Whitley (See holotype image here). Fast forward to the 90s and only a handful had been seen. Prior to the NORFAZ expedition in 1993 only two specimens were known to the scientific community. On this expedition scientists trawled up three Chaetodontoplus ballinae at 90m deep near Ball’s Pyramid which is part of Lord Howe Island Marine Park.
Jump ahead another ten plus years and sightings are still extremely rare, in part due to their limited range. Frank Baensch has shown photos from his expeditions to Lord Howe, and it may be the only recent photo of a live specimen you’ll find on internet. (Parker’s ’94 shot and Parkinson’s ’93 photo often float around as well). Like Genicanthus personatus, C. ballinae is said to be found at extreme depths or shallower waters depending on location. Nearby Lord Howe they have been spotted as shallow as 20m, while just a short distance away as deep as 200m. Listed here are sightings of the Ballina Angelfish per the Australian Institute of Science in 2004… just incase you want to make a trip. More info here [PDF].
With their rarity in mind, it is understandable that the images below created a stir in the western world when they were published in Kiyoshi Endoh’s Japanese magazine Marine Aquarist.
The photos created a wave of excitement among fish enthusiast. If I recall correctly just prior to this an adult C. ballinae was reportedly shipped to Japan, but passed away en-route. What most non-Japanese aquarists don’t know is Mr. Endoh often has a special article in his magazine called Miracle Aquarium where extremely rare fish are displayed via realistic plastic molds… and then placed in the an aquarium to photograph! This plastic “model” of a fish fooled quite a few people.
To this day not a single Chaetodontoplus ballinae has been kept alive in captivity making it one of the most illusive species. The same can be said for the Ballina’s inverted color-brethren Chaetodontoplus niger. Both fish contain only black, white and yellow and both are not likely to be in a private collection anytime soon. In the case of C. ballinae it is protected by the Australian government– making this fish one of the rarest and most coveted of all angels.
