How come

[R1_Ridah]

OK, I spoke to Seiichi and here's the deal. My fish is the same as the Bahia. The difference? Mine are wild caught in the Sao Francisco river which runs through the Brazilian state of Bahia. The Bahia kelberi that are hitting Japan right now are pond bred. That being said, Bahia kelberi should start hitting the market in relatively large numbers as they can now legally be exported as they are a farmed fish. I suspect that within a year or two Bahia kelberi will be no more rare than other Cichla species that are currently available.

Regarding how many wild caught "Sao Francisco" kelberi are in the US... exactly 3.

Yea, I agree. Reason to jump on the opportunity to snatch up the F1's if they are available because through the course of time the captive bred specie may start lacking the colors or may look a bit abnormal. But I'm sure that's years & years down the road.

What's crazy is the demand of these Kelberi's will still fetch a pretty penny, of course now you have to get "WILD" caught specimens. Before it was just the rarity that drove the price high. For example your Wild caught one would still fetch hefty price for someone looking to breed. It's actually good in a sence that with all these F1's floating around you'll have a better chance finding a female partner.

 

[SpeshulEd]

That's great that they bred them. I see a vendor trying to sell them wholesale, so we'll have to see if any vendors pick them up and what they go for.