Yesterday two Hawaiian Golden Banded Butterflyfish (Roa excelsa) were collected at over 400′ deep by Rufus Kimura and dive partner Jessie Wilson! This is believed to be the first time the species has been collected alive and the first time Roa excelsa has been available to the hobby. The pair was first sighted at 450ft. Jessie [...]
Yesterday two Hawaiian Golden Banded Butterflyfish (Roa excelsa) were collected at over 400′ deep by Rufus Kimura and dive partner Jessie Wilson! This is believed to be the first time the species has been collected alive and the first time Roa excelsa has been available to the hobby. The pair was first sighted at 450ft. Jessie captured his specimen at this depth while Rufus captured his at 420ft.
Roa excelsa on land and properly decompressed
This fish was first described in 1921 (Jordan) from a trawled up specimen. Since then they have only been seen via remote submarine and by a handful of divers. And by handful of divers, we truly mean that–when news of the Roa excelsa collection was shared with ichthyologist and twilight zone diver Richard Pyle, he said he had not even seen the species in the wild.
The Hawaiian Golden Band, or Brown Barred, Butterflyfish is a member of the Chaetodon genus (Chaetodon excelsa) but categorized in the Roa subgenus that holds its close relatives Chaetodon modestus and Chaetodon jayakari. Within the last year a few Chaetodon modestus trickled in, but don’t expect C. excelsa to sell for the same price. The elongated 3rd dorsal spine, tapering bands and brighter coloration separate this fish in looks alone. Geographically these fish are separated, with C. excelsa only recorded in Hawaii and parts of Guam.
Deceased Roa excelsa. Photo taken by Jack Randall in 1971. Compare to living specimen above.
These stunning butterflies were found at the same reef area as the Prognathodes basabei that were collected last month and Rufus was fortunate enough to collect that species again on this dive. Other noteworthy catches from the dive include a 1/2″ Apolemichthys arcuatus, Holanthias fuscipinnis and 3cm Bodianus sanguineus.
It was a longer dive than expected, equating to an eight hour decompression time. We asked how the butterflies handled the trip to the surface and so far everything looks good. There are no sings of swim bladder damage or sickness. The pair are swimming together in their holding tank as I type this.
Both of the rare fish have been sold for an undisclosed price and will be on their way to Japan tomorrow. More information and updates when they land. Many thanks to Rufus for sharing his story and photos.
