Lightning Maroon Clown
 

This definitely has to be the coolest Clown yet!

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/03/30/l...er/#more-17036

I want one! What a cool dude!

That's pretty cool........... I saw a picture of a maroon clown with all black stripes instead of white. It was from Jakarta........ I've been trying to find the picture for a while.

Cheers,
Vic

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I want one too, but fear that I won't be able to afford one. The'll probably be like $100.00+ when they first become available.

Danny

$100+? Quote from the article...
"The lightning maroon clownfish from PNG has already appeared on the Blue Zoo Aquatics Collector’s Choice for a modest $2500 with a SOLD sticker..."

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:shocked!:$2500.00!

Hey, Guys. My name is Ret Talbot, and I am a California-based writer and photographer who frequently reports on the hobby and the trade in general. I was fortunate enough to be in Papua New Guinea when this fish was collected. I was there researching the SEASMART Program for an article, and I have been following this fish since it entered the States last week. As many of you now know, it was sold to Matt Pedersen, who will be attempting to breed the fish. You can follow his blog about his efforts here:

http://www.lightning-maroon-clownfish.com/

For more of the (very cool) background on this fish, check out the lengthy article published by Blue Zoo Aquatics, the retailer that handled the retail sale:

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/resources.asp?show=416

There is also a shorter article on the SEASMART site:

http://www.seasmart.ecoez.com/spotlight.html

In terms of the price question, I can tell you that the highest bid for the fish was well in excess of US$5000. The US$2,500 price cited in the ReefBuilders article was based on the price seen at the Blue Zoo Collector's Choice store when the fish was first listed for sale. Blue Zoo decided to put the fish in the hands of a reputable breeder instead of simply selling it to the highest bidder--pretty cool, if you ask me.

What else is cool about this fish? Lots, but the fact that it was sustainably collected and the fisher was well compensated is worth knowing. For more background on the fish or the SEASMART Program in general, you can check out my blog about the trip here:

http://www.rettalbot.com/onassignment/PNG.html

Oh yea...and here's a pictured I snapped in PNG.

Enjoy!

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Cool read, thanks for sharing Ret. Oh, and welcome to Canreef.

Danny

My pleasure! Thanks for the warm welcome. Stay tuned for the May/June issue of CORAL Magazine for more!

Welcome to Canreef ! Thanks for the information. Very cool & exciting. I really hope they have success.

Thank you! I've always been keenly aware of the marine aquarist north of the border, which is why I try to always be careful to say "North American hobbyists". I'd be happy to cover a "truly Canadian" marine aquarium story sometime!

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Thats the key isn't it? We don't want to take any more of these creatures from their homes so breading them would be awsome for conservation. Plus I've always been partial to captive bread clowns for their ease of care. I'd hate to bring in a wild caught "Lightening" only to have it parish in my tank.

Not sure how different we are from aquarists around the globe, but there are definately some interesting and successful tanks around Canada. It would be cool to see one profiled.

Danny

Wow those look sweet! Will I need to invest in a grounding probe if I get one of these? hahaha I kill me! er.. um.. ya, nevermind carry on.

Lmao Kien.. so witty.... :razz:

Wow that sure is a neat critter! Im really glad they are considering the 'breeding' of the animal as part of the selection of the buyer. And the fact they will be using other clowns from the same region to attempt breeding with is great.

Thanks for sharing!

Chris