Rarities underwater

Luiz Rocha · 10/21/2009, 11:53 AM

Well, I am traveling (for a change) and have some time to spend in the net while waiting for a connecting flight. So, I decided to post some underwater photos (which I love doing) of some of the rare fish that I see and photograph but unfortunately never keep.

Some of these are pretty rare, so it would be great if you post here if you ever had one of these swimming in your tank, I am really curious about that.

Starting with Centropyge nahacki:

Photographed at 30m depth in Johnston Atoll.

Luiz Rocha · 10/21/2009, 11:54 AM

Another beauty, amazingly photographed in the SAME DIVE as the guy above, Chaetodon tinkeri:

Luiz Rocha · 10/21/2009, 11:59 AM

And here one of my personal favorites, a pair of Genicanthus personatus:

Photographed at 20m deep in Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).

I hear these guys sell for $10k+

is that right???

mpoletti · 10/21/2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luiz Rocha

.

Starting with Centropyge nahacki:

Photographed at 30m depth in Johnston Atoll.

Thank You for sharing your amazing photographs. Simply amazing

rydr119 · 10/21/2009, 12:18 PM

Those are great photos

cas · 10/21/2009, 12:56 PM

Thanks for sharing.

LobsterOfJustice · 10/21/2009, 01:04 PM

Of those three, C. tinkeri is the only one available. Expensive, but available. AFAIK, only one C. nahacki is in captivity (Waikiki Aquarium), and three (?) G. personatus (in Asia).

pookstreet · 10/21/2009, 01:21 PM

Beautiful underwater shots, Luiz! Makes me wonder once again why I hadn't taken up diving a long time ago.

Chelsey · 10/21/2009, 01:25 PM

Wow, amazing shots, thanks for posting them! I'd love to see more pics if you've got them

gasman059 · 10/21/2009, 05:13 PM

great pics thx for sharing!

Tinkers are about the only ones available for us commoners LOL

rachenbrazil · 10/22/2009, 06:20 AM

more pics please !

Amazing photos... sure be amazing divings ....

Luiz Rocha · 10/22/2009, 06:41 AM

Thanks for the comments guys! Interesting that those fish never make it to the market. Coincidentally, I took that C. nahacki photo during the trip where we collected the specimens for the Waikiki aquarium.

Ok, so here are some more, this guy is a very nice angelfish from the west African coast, Holacanthus africanus, first the juvenile:

And the adult:

Does this ever make it to the market? I think it would be relatively easy to keep in smaller tanks as it does not grow very large. The largest individuals I saw were about 15cm long.

Rachen, another coincidence, right now I am in Sao Paulo (Sao Carlos to be more precise) giving a seminar and talking to people at the University here.

More to come later...

jmaneyapanda · 10/22/2009, 06:58 AM

Aficanus do occasionally come in, but the subdued adult colors dont make them desireable to any but the heavy duty enthusiasts. The bright juvie colors are usually only seen on TINY individuals. These guys seems to morph to adult colorations quickly.

Luiz Rocha · 10/22/2009, 07:07 AM

Yes, they do morph very early, I think between 3 and 4 cm, but I still find the adults attractive, although not as much as some of the other angels. The juveniles are just spectacular, too bad they don't last very long.

Luiz Rocha · 10/22/2009, 07:16 AM

How about this guy? Prognathodes marcellae, also from west Africa:

This one is not very common and lives in deeper water, I think the shallowest I saw it was about 20m deep...

Mark · 10/22/2009, 07:18 AM

Luiz, fantastic photos. I recently started delving into underwater photography, and have discovered it's another expensive hobby.

It must be thrilling to get to photograph such rarities. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Durban, and had hoped to capture some photos of the kingi angel. But I got skunked. Fortunately, I did get to photograph some Zebrasoma gemmatums. One thing I noticed, is how us aquarist get excited about organisms that other divers don't.

myerst2 · 10/22/2009, 05:12 PM

Luiz, you are making my job very easy finding great photos to add to my library of photos. I am a complete nerd and fiend for fish pics. I love the pics, but what I love more is imagining the amazing sights and experiences you have had spending time in the environment with these great animals. So envious!!!!! If there were a new member of the month than Luiz wins hands down. So nice to see some threads other than can I put my yellow tang in with a scopas tang and will my clown trigger eat my cleaner shrimp. Don't get me wrong I am guilty of starting some very repetitive threads as well. Blah blah blah. T

myerst2 · 10/22/2009, 05:16 PM

As far as marcellae, they are available, but only to those who eagarly seek them out. Most people will see a a conpic or a clarion and say wow, but except for those who are nutty like some of us, the marcellae wouldn't garner a second look from most. That bfly looks very small. Which makes it extremely yummy!! Are there many outfits collecting in this area? What is marcellae's range. Have any shots of A. kingi while getting wet in Africa? Thanks and really appreciate your posts and insight. T

Sheol · 10/22/2009, 05:52 PM

The butterflyfish also needs a cooler deepwater reeftank, if I remember right. Still, I love that Genus. Get more pics! LOL

Matthew

AquaKnight · 10/22/2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myerst2

Have any shots of A. kingi while getting wet in Africa? Thanks and really appreciate your posts and insight. T

Darn, beat me to it. Any A. kingi shots?

Luiz Rocha · 10/22/2009, 07:20 PM

Thanks for the nice words guys, yes, it has been very nice to travel all over the place and hang out with these fish in the wild.

In west Africa there is nobody exporting fish regularly (not that I know of at least). The only way fish goes out is when some collector comes in and exports them, so most are hard to get. Unfortunately A. kingi is not in the area where I dove (Sao Tome), but there are some gems here, like the wrasse below, Coris atlantica, or, it is classified as C. atlantica, but this morph from Sao Tome is very different (and beautiful). So, here is the juvenile:

And the adult:

The downside is that you would need a fairly large tank for these guys, the adults are about 25cm long and swim all the time...

amore169 · 10/22/2009, 08:29 PM

Amazing photos, thanks for sharing.

myerst2 · 10/23/2009, 04:05 AM

Now does P. imperator and P. chrysurus overlap in there ranges in this area? If so have you ever seen the fish below? I believe it to be a hybrid of the above fish and an absolute show stopper? With no collecting outfits there, anyone want to move to Africa and start up? With fish looking like this and many tjem being endemic, I am suprised no one has started to collect? Thanks. T

Luiz Rocha · 10/23/2009, 05:20 AM

That is one great looking hybrid... P. imperator and P. chrysurus overlap along the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, and the species that I posted above are from the Atlantic coast of Africa. But I did some diving in the Seychelles not long ago and all I saw was "normal" fish...

Now, these odd lines in the hybrid you showed reminded me of a really odd looking Acanthurus lineatus that I saw in Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) last year:

This guy doesn't look like a hybrid, just something really odd, maybe a genetic defect.

tcmfish · 10/23/2009, 05:51 AM

That clown tang pic is awesome!!! (So are your other pics

) That is the first time I have seen a pic of one like that!

BTW your pics are very nice, and you do a good job with underwater photography. And not only are the pics of good quality you take them of some awesome fish!

10/21/2009, 11:53 AM	#1
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	Rarities underwater Well, I am traveling (for a change) and have some time to spend in the net while waiting for a connecting flight. So, I decided to post some underwater photos (which I love doing) of some of the rare fish that I see and photograph but unfortunately never keep. Some of these are pretty rare, so it would be great if you post here if you ever had one of these swimming in your tank, I am really curious about that. Starting with Centropyge nahacki: Photographed at 30m depth in Johnston Atoll.

10/21/2009, 12:18 PM	#5
rydr119 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Lake Worth, Fl Posts: 846	Those are great photos __________________ If I could fit into my reef tank I wold be snorkeling right now. Current Tank Info: Custom 183 gal, Euro reef rs 250 protein skimmer, 400W 20K radium lighting, 2-darts, 75gal sump/fuge

10/21/2009, 01:04 PM	#7
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Of those three, C. tinkeri is the only one available. Expensive, but available. AFAIK, only one C. nahacki is in captivity (Waikiki Aquarium), and three (?) G. personatus (in Asia). __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

10/21/2009, 01:21 PM	#8
pookstreet Registered Stick Killer Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Upland, California Posts: 7,332	Beautiful underwater shots, Luiz! Makes me wonder once again why I hadn't taken up diving a long time ago. __________________ Kenny Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart - Confucius All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful - John Wooden Current Tank Info: What's that???

10/21/2009, 01:25 PM	#9
Chelsey Clownfish Addict Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Missouri Posts: 5,031	Wow, amazing shots, thanks for posting them! I'd love to see more pics if you've got them __________________ Always bear in mind your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. Current Tank Info: 100 gallon cube, 28 gallon snowflake tank, 2500 gallon broodstock system

10/21/2009, 11:54 AM	#2
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	Another beauty, amazingly photographed in the SAME DIVE as the guy above, Chaetodon tinkeri:

10/21/2009, 11:59 AM	#3
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	And here one of my personal favorites, a pair of Genicanthus personatus: Photographed at 20m deep in Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands). I hear these guys sell for $10k+ is that right???

10/21/2009, 12:56 PM	#6
cas Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Arlington Hts., IL Posts: 748	Thanks for sharing.

10/21/2009, 05:13 PM	#10
gasman059 The OG mad scientist Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: SOFLA Posts: 10,308	great pics thx for sharing! Tinkers are about the only ones available for us commoners LOL __________________ There's a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". 1985-present Current Tank Info: Officially lurking!

10/22/2009, 06:20 AM	#11
rachenbrazil Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil Posts: 738	more pics please ! Amazing photos... sure be amazing divings .... __________________ Love Fishes 200 G soft coral reef with vertes ômega 150. 25 G nano reef cadlights nano pls50

10/22/2009, 06:41 AM	#12
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	Thanks for the comments guys! Interesting that those fish never make it to the market. Coincidentally, I took that C. nahacki photo during the trip where we collected the specimens for the Waikiki aquarium. Ok, so here are some more, this guy is a very nice angelfish from the west African coast, Holacanthus africanus, first the juvenile: And the adult: Does this ever make it to the market? I think it would be relatively easy to keep in smaller tanks as it does not grow very large. The largest individuals I saw were about 15cm long. Rachen, another coincidence, right now I am in Sao Paulo (Sao Carlos to be more precise) giving a seminar and talking to people at the University here. More to come later...

10/22/2009, 06:58 AM	#13
jmaneyapanda Commencing hatred Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,784	Aficanus do occasionally come in, but the subdued adult colors dont make them desireable to any but the heavy duty enthusiasts. The bright juvie colors are usually only seen on TINY individuals. These guys seems to morph to adult colorations quickly.

10/22/2009, 07:07 AM	#14
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	Yes, they do morph very early, I think between 3 and 4 cm, but I still find the adults attractive, although not as much as some of the other angels. The juveniles are just spectacular, too bad they don't last very long.

10/22/2009, 07:16 AM	#15
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	How about this guy? Prognathodes marcellae, also from west Africa: This one is not very common and lives in deeper water, I think the shallowest I saw it was about 20m deep...

10/22/2009, 07:18 AM	#16
Mark Premium Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA Posts: 4,542	Luiz, fantastic photos. I recently started delving into underwater photography, and have discovered it's another expensive hobby. It must be thrilling to get to photograph such rarities. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Durban, and had hoped to capture some photos of the kingi angel. But I got skunked. Fortunately, I did get to photograph some Zebrasoma gemmatums. One thing I noticed, is how us aquarist get excited about organisms that other divers don't. __________________ -Mark TOTM March 2001 Current Tank Info: 225g stony reef, 38g softie

10/22/2009, 05:12 PM	#17
myerst2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Hampton, Long Island Posts: 2,341	Luiz, you are making my job very easy finding great photos to add to my library of photos. I am a complete nerd and fiend for fish pics. I love the pics, but what I love more is imagining the amazing sights and experiences you have had spending time in the environment with these great animals. So envious!!!!! If there were a new member of the month than Luiz wins hands down. So nice to see some threads other than can I put my yellow tang in with a scopas tang and will my clown trigger eat my cleaner shrimp. Don't get me wrong I am guilty of starting some very repetitive threads as well. Blah blah blah. T __________________ "Those who teach must constantly hold up the challenge to study nature, not books." -Albrecht.

10/22/2009, 05:16 PM	#18
myerst2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Hampton, Long Island Posts: 2,341	As far as marcellae, they are available, but only to those who eagarly seek them out. Most people will see a a conpic or a clarion and say wow, but except for those who are nutty like some of us, the marcellae wouldn't garner a second look from most. That bfly looks very small. Which makes it extremely yummy!! Are there many outfits collecting in this area? What is marcellae's range. Have any shots of A. kingi while getting wet in Africa? Thanks and really appreciate your posts and insight. T __________________ "Those who teach must constantly hold up the challenge to study nature, not books." -Albrecht.

10/22/2009, 05:52 PM	#19
Sheol Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Waxahachie, Tx. Posts: 3,610	The butterflyfish also needs a cooler deepwater reeftank, if I remember right. Still, I love that Genus. Get more pics! LOL Matthew

10/22/2009, 07:20 PM	#21
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	Thanks for the nice words guys, yes, it has been very nice to travel all over the place and hang out with these fish in the wild. In west Africa there is nobody exporting fish regularly (not that I know of at least). The only way fish goes out is when some collector comes in and exports them, so most are hard to get. Unfortunately A. kingi is not in the area where I dove (Sao Tome), but there are some gems here, like the wrasse below, Coris atlantica, or, it is classified as C. atlantica, but this morph from Sao Tome is very different (and beautiful). So, here is the juvenile: And the adult: The downside is that you would need a fairly large tank for these guys, the adults are about 25cm long and swim all the time...

10/22/2009, 08:29 PM	#22
amore169 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,250	Amazing photos, thanks for sharing. __________________ Arnie. Current Tank Info: 400 Gallon Starphire Rimless. 8 A360WE Kessils with controller. Sfiligoi Infinity DDE 6X250 light fixture. Bubble King Internal 300 Deluxe. 215 Gallon Oceanic Starphire Ultimate FOWRL. 34 Gallon Solana.

10/23/2009, 04:05 AM	#23
myerst2 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Hampton, Long Island Posts: 2,341	Now does P. imperator and P. chrysurus overlap in there ranges in this area? If so have you ever seen the fish below? I believe it to be a hybrid of the above fish and an absolute show stopper? With no collecting outfits there, anyone want to move to Africa and start up? With fish looking like this and many tjem being endemic, I am suprised no one has started to collect? Thanks. T __________________ "Those who teach must constantly hold up the challenge to study nature, not books." -Albrecht.

10/23/2009, 05:20 AM	#24
Luiz Rocha Salty Dog Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 818	That is one great looking hybrid... P. imperator and P. chrysurus overlap along the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, and the species that I posted above are from the Atlantic coast of Africa. But I did some diving in the Seychelles not long ago and all I saw was "normal" fish... Now, these odd lines in the hybrid you showed reminded me of a really odd looking Acanthurus lineatus that I saw in Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) last year: This guy doesn't look like a hybrid, just something really odd, maybe a genetic defect.

10/23/2009, 05:51 AM	#25
tcmfish Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,658	That clown tang pic is awesome!!! (So are your other pics ) That is the first time I have seen a pic of one like that! BTW your pics are very nice, and you do a good job with underwater photography. And not only are the pics of good quality you take them of some awesome fish!