Rarest central/south American cichlid?
- Thread starter Cichlids keeper
- Start date
That depends on what you mean by rarest. Are we talking in the hobby or in the wild? There’s a lot of stuff that has never been imported, or hasn’t been imported in a long time. And there are a handful of “mythical” cichlids that were described but that, for some reason or another, either can’t be located now, or the identifications can’t be agreed upon by collectors/hobbyists. Mesoheros ornatum vs. M. gephyrum comes to mind.
Theres quite a few that are probably very rare; almost non existent found in the wild in minute miniature ecosystems. In terms of ones thatre rare but at the same time highly sought after in the hobby.. It could literally come down to a common cichlid/cichla/crenicichla with a very rare locale varient in waters with heavy exportation bans. With so many you couldnt really even say since with so much of the water untouchable, we dont know whats in it.
I agree with dan518, N. ramsdeni, its the only one never available(or hardly available) in the states because of U.S./Cuban politics.
For me, the 2nd rarest is Isthmoheros tuyrense, and is one of the reasons I chose Panama as a place to move to, to collect my own.
It comes from large rivers on the edge of the Darien that are remote, and hard to negotiate in any, but the dry season.
But is also found in Lake Bayano.
Now that I've acquired another tank, it is next on my list, along with Darienheros calobrensis.
I believe tuyrense is also rare, because it isn't full of gaudy colors, and gets quite large, any tank under 6ft, would only be a grow out tank for juvies of this large vegetarian cichlid.
For me, the 2nd rarest is Isthmoheros tuyrense, and is one of the reasons I chose Panama as a place to move to, to collect my own.
It comes from large rivers on the edge of the Darien that are remote, and hard to negotiate in any, but the dry season.
But is also found in Lake Bayano.
Now that I've acquired another tank, it is next on my list, along with Darienheros calobrensis.
I believe tuyrense is also rare, because it isn't full of gaudy colors, and gets quite large, any tank under 6ft, would only be a grow out tank for juvies of this large vegetarian cichlid.
I believe if you rely on LFSs, in most cases you will have a hard time getting any but the bread and butter cichlids like Oscars, jags, or G.T.s (except on rare occasions).
But if you join organizations like the American Cichlid Assn, or go to the yearly Chicago Cichlid Extravaganza or other large city auctions, or specialist cichlid breeders, you might find fish species you may have thought never available
Chuco micropthalmus was mentioned above, I had haf @ dozen 5 years ago.
Around that time, I had Mayaheros beanii spawning and could barely give fry away.
same when I had haitiensus, I was giving them away, and had a hard time getting takers.
Its all about timing and what cichlid keepers have become aware of
But if you join organizations like the American Cichlid Assn, or go to the yearly Chicago Cichlid Extravaganza or other large city auctions, or specialist cichlid breeders, you might find fish species you may have thought never available
Chuco micropthalmus was mentioned above, I had haf @ dozen 5 years ago.
Around that time, I had Mayaheros beanii spawning and could barely give fry away.
same when I had haitiensus, I was giving them away, and had a hard time getting takers.
Its all about timing and what cichlid keepers have become aware of