We heard from a few divers that some masked angel hunting was likely to occur and now Sangodo, a local fish store in Japan, just this past Friday posted a female Genicanthus personatus for sale. (Update: some are saying this fish was bycatch. It was not collected by the usual group of deepwater HI divers.) This [...]
We heard from a few divers that some masked angel hunting was likely to occur and now Sangodo, a local fish store in Japan, just this past Friday posted a female Genicanthus personatus for sale. (Update: some are saying this fish was bycatch. It was not collected by the usual group of deepwater HI divers.) This is one angelfish that collectors are drooling over. However, with such a high wholesale price, expect to see these retail near $10K! It will be interesting to see who buys this specimen and how quickly. With the hefty price tag, it is no surprise that this fish went to Japan as nearly all of them do. Currently Sangodo does not have a price listed, but state the female is eating frozen brine. See more photos of the angelfish: Sangodo WYSIWYG Stock List.
Photo by Sangodo Japan
G. personatus is endemic to Hawaii, where it is found at depths of 200ft+, and the Northwestern Islands, where it can be found much shallower… but collecting is prohibited (e.g Midway). Females and males are equally striking, but easily distinguishable. Females are much smaller, and offer a plain white and black color palette while the males grow significantly larger and have an orange-yellow mask and outline. Males are said to be extremely difficult to adapt to captivity, while females accept prepared foods easier. Most of this knowledge comes from Charles Delbeek and the Waikiki Aquarium who has a pair on display. (To my knowledge the few other Personatus that have been collected are in Japan.)
I seem to have misplaced some photos Koji Wada sent me. One of his customers has a beautiful specimen that is often seen in the few captive photographs that float around the net. Tetsuo, Copps, send ‘em over if you’ve got them!
Thanks to Taka for the heads up on this fish.
For more information and some photos, check out the links below:
