Potter's angelfish for sale on reef beauties.. how?

[Solasis]

Reef beauties has wild potter's angelfish for sale. I thought they were only found in Hawaii, and for $100, seems too cheap to be from a tank break down. Are they caught in other areas?

 

[blaxsun]

No idea, but that's not a bad price.

 

[GlassMunky]

Biota recently started offering them up as captive bred fish. Maybe this is that?
Otherwise I can’t think of any legal way unless it’s one that’s already been imported before the ban.

Biota Unveils Captive Bred Potter’s Angelfish | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The Biota Group has unveiled its newest offering, captive-bred Potters angelfish! We are so excited to see this new species come to market. Potter’s angels unmistakable coloration and patterns never…

reefbuilders.com

 

[Sump Crab]

seems sketchy TBH

Edit: Seems like a legit site and even saw some good reviews. Possibly they just haven't updated since the ban? I don't see how anyone would have potters for only $100 right now.

 

[Solasis]

Biota recently started offering them up as captive bred fish. Maybe this is that?
Otherwise I can’t think of any legal way unless it’s one that’s already been imported before the ban.

Biota Unveils Captive Bred Potter’s Angelfish | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The Biota Group has unveiled its newest offering, captive-bred Potters angelfish! We are so excited to see this new species come to market. Potter’s angels unmistakable coloration and patterns never…

reefbuilders.com

Biota captive bred ones are $900, which is why I was so surprised by these.

 

[Solasis]

seems sketchy TBH

I agree. On facebook I saw a post of a guy selling small wild yellow tangs and yellow eye kole tangs. I wonder if there was some illegal import recently?

 

[paragrouper]

seems sketchy TBH

Edit: Seems like a legit sight and even saw some good reviews. Possibly they just haven't updated since the ban? I don't see how anyone would have potters for only $100 right now.

Biota has them listed as $900 for captive bred. Seems real sketchy

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I believe there's a loophole in the law where you can take them out of Hawaii, but they need to be taken on a plane in your personal baggage. Of course, with the amount of liquid you can take on a plane, that means only a dozen or so fish can possibly be taken back each flight. Yellow tangs which were procured in that fashion have been selling for 400$, and I imagine that a Potter's angel would be even more expensive that that. Given the price on that one, I bet they forgot to take down an ad from before the ban, or they posted it by mistake. The captive bred ones have been selling for >700$, so it can't be that.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

We have them in Thailand. I don't know how either but all these fish you guys want so badly are in fact available from other sources. I'm sure some will feel that none of the fish are anywhere close to Hawaiian fish due to the fact there's a place called Hawaii and fish were collected there but I think that's ridiculous frankly.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I believe there's a loophole in the law where you can take them out of Hawaii, but they need to be taken on a plane in your personal baggage. Of course, with the amount of liquid you can take on a plane, that means only a dozen or so fish can possibly be taken back each flight. Yellow tangs which were procured in that fashion have been selling for 400$, and I imagine that a Potter's angel would be even more expensive that that. Given the price on that one, I bet they forgot to take down an ad from before the ban, or they posted it by mistake. The captive bred ones have been selling for >700$, so it can't be that.

Maybe they came from Indonesia where they are everywhere and Indonesias realized the insane money they could make by netting a yellow tank for no cost to them.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Maybe they came from Indonesia where they are everywhere and Indonesias realized the insane money they could make by netting a yellow tank for no cost to them.

I think what you're think of is the mimic tang. FishBase gives the distribution of true yellow tangs (Zebrasoma flavescens) as such;

Pacific Ocean: Ryukyu, Mariana, Marshall, Marcus, Wake and Hawaiian islands. Has been reported off the coast of Florida in the Western Central Atlantic

Presumably the specimens from Florida are from accidental/purposeful releases related to our hobby. I don't see a reference to Indonesia, but they could be wrong. It does seem somewhat likely that the occasional vagrant could end up in the Philippines or maybe Indonesia (chevron tangs have been collected there), but probably not frequently enough for any significant collection to take place.

As for the C. potteri, FishBase states that they are only found in Hawaii and off of the Johnston Atoll, home only to an abandoned military base and a few colonies of seabirds, no fish collectors there. Again, FishBase or I could be missing something.

I do think that if either of these fish were frequently found in areas where collection is allowed, they probably wouldn't have been thought of as Hawaiian fish in the first place. Interesting that you have them in Thailand, maybe some fish collectors in that region make trips out to Johnston Atoll? Would be quite the boat trip if so.

 

[littlefoxx]

Ive got no idea but I ordered a potters just now! Heard great stuff about them, they just never had a fish I wanted until now. Also snagged a regal angel, 240 for a 5-6 inch.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I think what you're think of is the mimic tang. FishBase gives the distribution of true yellow tangs (Zebrasoma flavescens) as such;

Pacific Ocean: Ryukyu, Mariana, Marshall, Marcus, Wake and Hawaiian islands. Has been reported off the coast of Florida in the Western Central Atlantic

Presumably the specimens from Florida are from accidental/purposeful releases related to our hobby. I don't see a reference to Indonesia, but they could be wrong. It does seem somewhat likely that the occasional vagrant could end up in the Philippines or maybe Indonesia (chevron tangs have been collected there), but probably not frequently enough for any significant collection to take place.

As for the C. potteri, FishBase states that they are only found in Hawaii and off of the Johnston Atoll, home only to an abandoned military base and a few colonies of seabirds, no fish collectors there. Again, FishBase or I could be missing something.

I do think that if either of these fish were frequently found in areas where collection is allowed, they probably wouldn't have been thought of as Hawaiian fish in the first place. Interesting that you have them in Thailand, maybe some fish collectors in that region make trips out to Johnston Atoll? Would be quite the boat trip if so.

 

[Solasis]

Ive got no idea but I ordered a potters just now! Heard great stuff about them, they just never had a fish I wanted until now. Also snagged a regal angel, 240 for a 5-6 inch.

Good luck! Let me know if it was a mistake or legit haha

 

[blaxsun]

Ive got no idea but I ordered a potters just now! Heard great stuff about them, they just never had a fish I wanted until now. Also snagged a regal angel, 240 for a 5-6 inch.

Worst-case scenario they probably won't ship until after July 4th anyway, so you can always email them for clarification in the interim.

 

[littlefoxx]

Worst-case scenario they probably won't ship until after July 4th anyway, so you can always email them for clarification in the interim.

Yeah! I guess we will see what they send me! They have good reviews after looking into them. I was kinda skeptical of their prices since they are always really low but I will update when the angels arrive!

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

They do say that that map was "computer generated and has not yet been reviewed". It's the exact same map that they use for many other indo-pacific fish. Only a few lines down, under Distribution, they list the areas which I've given. If you look at the iNaturalist map of reported sightings, the closest to Indonesia reported are a single sighting from Micronesia and another from Taiwan, both thousands of kilometers away. I would like to see more evidence than a single map that these fish are "everywhere" in Indonesia.

 

[Gundy]

Ive got no idea but I ordered a potters just now! Heard great stuff about them, they just never had a fish I wanted until now. Also snagged a regal angel, 240 for a 5-6 inch.

What did they charge you for shipping?

 

[littlefoxx]

What did they charge you for shipping?

Nothing for shipping! It says if you get 179 of marine life or over its free shipping!

 

[littlefoxx]

Figured this is probably my best bet to try and keep a Regal since they can be tricky with eating. Dont want to be out like 400 bucks if I cant get it to eat. The one I got is 5-6 inches. Just doesnt say if its tank raised or wild caught.