The most expensive fish, hunted by everyone from amateur enthusiasts to millionaire celebrities, can command astronomical prices befitting their beauty and rarity.
Here are the top 10 most expensive aquarium fish in the world, for which collectors are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.
10. Ironforged Butterflyfish (Chaetodon daedalma) - $2700
This small fish (up to 15 cm in length) lives in the Pacific Ocean and is most often found off the coast of Japan. It gets its name from its metallic black coloration, with bright yellow stripes on its dorsal and caudal fins.
Iron-clad butterflyfish typically move in pairs in their natural habitat. However, they sometimes form schools of hundreds of fish.
Fish farmers and collectors can pay over $2,700 to add an iron butterflyfish to their collection. This high price is due to restrictions on the distribution of Chaetodon daedalma outside Japan, as well as increased export costs due to its inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
9. Australian flathead perch (Rainfordia opercularis) - $5000
Catching Australian flathead bass in the wild is difficult, as they tend to disappear into caves before divers can spot them. Their small size makes escape even easier.
Like the iron-forged butterflyfish, the Australian flathead can grow up to 15 centimeters, making it a suitable choice for collectors with relatively small aquariums.
8. Golden alligator gar, also known as Mississippi gar (Atractosteus spatula) - $7000
Although this brightly colored predator typically prefers large rivers and lakes, it also tolerates saltwater conditions well.
As the name suggests, these fish are bright golden in color, with a long, sleek body that helps them glide easily through the water.
Potential alligator gar owners should ensure their aquarium is suitable for the fish, which can grow up to 3 metres in length and weigh up to 130 kg.
The value of golden alligator gar is due to the rarity of their coloration. Only one in 10,000 alligator gar is golden.
7. Platinum Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) - $7000
Another expensive aquarium fish, prized for its rare coloration. Due to its somewhat prehistoric appearance, the alligator gar is often called a "living fossil." This is unsurprising, as the ancestors of the alligator gar appeared in the Eocene, which began 56 million years ago and ended 33.9 million years ago.
The snout of this fish is short but wide, and the body is covered with white, enamel-like ganoid scales in the form of diamond-shaped hard plates.
With proper care, the platinum alligator gar can live up to 50 years.
6. Neptune's Grouper (Cephalopholis igarashiensis) - $7000
A beautiful combination of orange and white stripes, accented by a plump body and spiny dorsal fin, makes the Neptune grouper a stunning addition to any marine aquarium.
While owning one of these rare fish in the world will cost collectors at least $7,000, Neptune groupers have difficulty adapting to the surface due to changes in water pressure.
This is because the Neptune grouper typically lives at depths of approximately 200 meters, making it extremely difficult to bring to the surface alive. Special decompression procedures are required.
If you'd rather eat than own a Neptune bass, you can buy one at Japanese food markets for as little as $50.
5. Bladefyn Basslet (Jeboehlkia gladifer) - $10000
This small creature typically reaches just 3 cm in length, and its body is adorned with vibrant white and red markings. Its tiny size, combined with its preferred depth (243 meters), makes the basslet one of the most expensive aquarium fish in the world.
The Bladefyn Basslet is a good-natured fish, so if you are lucky enough to have one, you won't have to worry about it eating other aquarium inhabitants.
4. Masked Angelfish (Genicanthus Personatus) - $30,000
An extremely rare deep-sea fish, commonly found on coral reefs around the Hawaiian Islands, they are protected from commercial fishing and are therefore usually bred in captivity.
As protogynous hermaphrodites, masked angelfish begin life as females and eventually metamorphose into males, a transition that involves subtle changes in the coloration around their eyes. Only females have the distinctive black mask. Males, on the other hand, have black only on their tails.
3. Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) - $30,000
This fish is like a brightly colored toy, but its price is far from toy-like.
Found in the South Pacific Ocean, the peppermint angelfish lives at depths of up to 120 meters in caves and reefs, feeding primarily on worms, sponges, and other detritus.
Only experienced divers can reach their habitat, and bringing the peppermint angelfish to the surface is a delicate process, as the fish must be decompressed to safely exit the deep waters.
In 2012, the Waikiki Aquarium purchased a peppermint angelfish for $30,000.
2. Leopoldi's stingray (Potamotrygon leopoldi) – $100 000
The freshwater pea ray, also known as Potamotrygon leopoldi, is an incredibly rare fish. It was named after King Leopold III of Belgium, who sponsored various studies at the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences.
Hunting for a Leopoldi stingray in the wild can be extremely challenging, as these beautiful creatures spend most of their time buried in the sand. However, collectors can also acquire captive-bred stingrays.
1. Platinum Asian Arowana (Scleropages formosus) - $450,000
The most expensive aquarium fish by far is the Platinum Arowana, which can cost up to $450,000.
Its value stems from its extremely rare coloration, as well as the fact that in some Asian cultures, the arowana is a symbol of prosperity, strength, and power. There's even a belief that this fish can save its owner from death, even at the cost of its own life.
This slender and graceful fish has scales reminiscent of a dragon's, and has a metallic shimmer when the arowana glides through the water.
Arowanas are voracious eaters, eating everything from other fish and crustaceans to frogs and crickets, and will even jump out of their tanks to retrieve prey, earning them the nickname "monkey fish.".
As you might expect, the world's most expensive fish is listed as endangered, and only a few aquariums can boast of keeping the Platinum Arowana in captivity.