Hey Rob,
I know you like to study different types of fish. Well here is the background information for thsoe that want to hear it. Yes, we re-discovered these fish back in 2009, and went far into China to meet with scientists that were researching and breeding these fish, well that is no longer being done. The price of the current ones are wild so they're cheaper, the initial leg work of discovering them, and setting up the shipping has all been done already. If you read our original story published in TFh magazine, also on my blog., it took us 2 wks of time and over $10,000 dollars to find them initially.
There is now a new population of these fish found in another river that runs along the mighty Yangtze river, previously not collected from that region. Now I've "accidently" led this Chinese exporter to that area by showing him pictures, and now he is paying the local fisherman to catch them and sell to him only. Make a long story short, he owes me money so I'm making him send me these as partial credit. They are catching 4-8" ones along with other loaches, but the giants that once roamed the main Yangtze are mostly all gone, I've waited for years to hear if they find any giant ones but non have turned up. I can only dream of the 30" ones that use to swim the rivers!
