lightning maroon

[knucklehead]

never seen this before. nice fish!
Lightning maroon clownfish from Blue Zoo Aquatics will be entrusted to an accomplished fishbreeder

 

[Nanofins]

I actually got a picture of this fish from one of my buddies on Tuesday. He was in CA checking out the wholesaler where this fish was at and saw it and snapped a pic on his phone and sent it to me. We were both shocked. At the time it was already sold and slated to go to the buyer (BZA I guess). Cool fish. I hope they can isolate the gene that causes this and start reproducing it for the hobby; that would be way cool.

 

[fenderguy1]

That is the coolest clown ever!

 

[stryker]

I was lucky enough to see this in person and it blew me away! Way to go Blue Zoo Aquatic for doing the right thing with this beauty!

 

[650-IS350]

cool looking fish....

 

[akabryanhall]

Was pretty sure this was an april fools joke like the powder red, but i guess its not

 

[Nanofins]

Dude, it's so real, and the best part....it's a local here in MN that got it! He's an accomplished breeder in our club, and I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this fish. Hopefully he'll be able to isolate the gene that produced this pattern and start reproducing it with subsequent generations!

 

[ReeferBen]

I saw a picture of one being collected awhile ago from PNG in the industry behind the hobby forum on reefs.org.

Amazing maroon clown collected today in PNG : The Collector's Forum

So the first was collected in Aug 08' and it took this long to get a second. Pretty cool fish.

 

[jestersix]

Looks like they just got another juvenile...posted at ReefBuilders today.

 

[ReeferRob]

Another lightning maroon clownfish is collected by the Seasmart Program

 

[knucklehead]

Sweet!

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Hey, Guys. My name is Ret Talbot, and I am a writer and photographer who often covers the hobby and the trade. I was in Papua New Guinea when this fish was collected in March 2010. I was there researching a story on the SEASMART Program, and boy was I jazzed to see this PNG lightning maroon clownfish in the SEASMART export facility in Port Moresby, PNG. At any rate, I wanted to pass on some links so those of you interested can learn more about this fish. First and foremost (and as has been reported above), Matt Pedersen bought the fish from Blue Zoo Aquatics, and you can follow Matt's progress here:

The Lightning Project - The ongoing saga of the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish Breeding Project

To learn more on the back story (like why Blue Zoo decided to get this fish to a renowned breeder like Matt instead of to simply the highest bidder), check out these two articles:

seasmart

The Story Behind Blue Zoo's PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish

Finally, for more on PNG and the SEASMART Program, you can check out my blog about the trip:

On Assignment in Papua New Guinea with Travel Writer and Photographer RetTalbot

For the record, only two of these fish have entered the trade. The first was in 2008 and the second was the one we are discussing here. The juvi that was reported on April 1st on ReefBuilders was...well it was reported on April 1st! :-) (great Photoshop job! It even tricked Matt...lol).

Enjoy!

P.S. Here's a photo of the lil guy that I snapped in PNG.

 

[jaytizzle]

Ret, thanks for taking the time to come post! This is an awesome bit of info and I am looking forward to Matt's progress with the fish. I stumbled across his lightning project website yesterday and bookmarked it immediately.

 

[droblack]

Coolest clown ever!

 

[returnofsid]

Ummmm, did none of you notice the "April Fools" at the bottom of the article?

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Ummmm, did none of you notice the "April Fools" at the bottom of the article?

The April Fools gag was for a juvi they reported being collected after the real collection. Two of these guys (from the same reef) have indeed entered the trade from Papua New Guinea via the SEASMART Program. One came in in 2008 and the other last week. I've seen the lil guy with my own two eyes!

Cheers,

Ret