New* Gar Guest what it is.

[King-eL]

the problem is that demand really isn't that high for them...or more specifically, there aren't a lot of people demanding them. with 100 Cubans you would almost surely saturate the market. look at tropical gars...when we first brought them in they were $350 each for 6-8" specimens, now you have them going for cheaper at larger sizes.

the Cubans would go similarly...we had an order brought in several years ago and it was a small one so they went fast (at about $275 each for small guys, it may have been even a higher price, i don't recall exactly)...but then most people who bought them killed them because they didn't realize they are tougher to keep than the more common species.

king-el, congrats on getting a Cuban for your collection, although it's too bad how you had to go about doing it. if i were the person in charge of the research i'd be pissed if one specimen were missing as research like this (with so little being done on gars) depends greatly on having ALL the fish present and used to the fullest ability. this is part of the reason hobbyists get a bad reputation in fish research...they often believe their interests in "collections" supercedes the importance of quality research.--
--solomon

It was an act of desperation of wanting a cuban gar and I understand where you're coming from. Did all the hard part and not getting one will also piss me off as I've been wanting a cuban gar for a long time now. Don't wanna spend $200 for a 6" when an cheaper 11" is available. Did pay 40% of the total cost of bringing them here and for the university of taking all 99 and only payed 60% of the cost won't be fair for me. I should have at least 20 gars to obtain if it wasn't for research. I actually gave them donation.

 

[Madding]

It was an act of desperation of wanting a cuban gar and I understand where you're coming from.

I know that feeling of desperation when it comes to the cuban.

 

[E_americanus]

It was an act of desperation of wanting a cuban gar and I understand where you're coming from. Did all the hard part and not getting one will also piss me off as I've been wanting a cuban gar for a long time now. Don't wanna spend $200 for a 6" when an cheaper 11" is available. Did pay 40% of the total cost of bringing them here and for the university of taking all 99 and only payed 60% of the cost won't be fair for me. I should have at least 20 gars to obtain if it wasn't for research. I actually gave them donation.

quite honestly i have no sympathy for you whatsoever. not only did you take (with no authorization) a fish from a research order, but you also seem to hold research responsible for your not getting a fish. gar research is hard enough to pull off with the real challenges of research aside from outside people holding it back.
quite frankly i don't necessarily believe your funding numbers/breakdown or that the U would just take your money with no compensation. at the very least, they would have told you that this cost would be non-recoverable, and if you were smart you wouldn't have dumped the money for the project.

i also have no sympathy because although i working on gar research academically/professionally, before that time i spent the $$ for my collection of fishes legally...and yeah, it was expensive. the first Cuban brought into the US in recent history cost me $363 just for the one fish...luckily through connections in the hobby i was able to make this happen, but i did it legally and without having to hold back research. you obviously have the funds to pay for expensive fishes, so that makes this entire scenario even more reprehensible.

hopefully others don't decide to follow suit in the future and contribute to holding back conservation efforts. you set a bad example to say the least; if you were smart you wouldn't have posted about it in open forum and avoided any criticism.--
--solomon

 

[Infblue]

It was an act of desperation of wanting a cuban gar and I understand where you're coming from. Did all the hard part and not getting one will also piss me off as I've been wanting a cuban gar for a long time now. Don't wanna spend $200 for a 6" when an cheaper 11" is available. Did pay 40% of the total cost of bringing them here and for the university of taking all 99 and only payed 60% of the cost won't be fair for me. I should have at least 20 gars to obtain if it wasn't for research. I actually gave them donation.

i was wondering the same thing as solomon when i read this. It seems like the university would either cover all the cost or compensate you for your contribution (in some other way that's agreed upon, since it sounds like they didn't guarantee you a specimen out of this).

i'm guessing there's some kind of bulk discount on such a large order, but still you must have spent more than $200 now?

 

[King-eL]

Well I'll take any criticism. I got my gar and don't care what others say. The university is happy about them that they got them. They could have use captive breed florida or gator gars but they would rather go for the cheaper ones.

 

[Polypterus]

Well I'll take any criticism. I got my gar and don't care what others say. The university is happy about them that they got them. They could have use captive breed florida or gator gars but they would rather go for the cheaper ones.

Before you say something dumb again...
All Cuban Gars found outside of Cuba are exported from the Zapata research facility as surplus stock... Otherwise they are Captive not wild-caught as for some reason you keep saying. Cuban Gars are also NOT listed according to the IUCN.. They should be but they are not. Nor are they Cites Listed. Cuba strictly regulates international trade in them on their own terms and conditions. They have not asked for or even suggested further international regulations in regards to them.

My comments aside from this I'll just keep to myself other than saying two things..

1. There is a special place in hell for you to take what is not yours from research of these fish. I really do not care what your "reasoning" is or justification. You stole the fish even by your own account... You even have the nerve to cockly gloat about it. Really really LOW ethics and behavior being demonstrated here and I really hope that others see this clearly in you and avoid any dealing with you. It is rather clear that you have no issue with conning and stealing from others for your own self gratification. Really it is quite seriously disappointing to have to read through this and I will most definitely make sure that I find the person you have stole this fish from and I will let them know about all of this. Dude.. there are only a very few working with Gars in academia (and even fewer that have Tristoechus on their CV). If you thought that all this would just float over you, you are very wrong.

2. If you were smart you wouldn't have posted about it in open forum

So anyhow.... Enjoy your fish much because you with this particular move just Blacklisted yourself for good in the Gar community as far as I'm concerned. Hope it was worth it to you...

 

[King-eL]

Before you say something dumb again...
All Cuban Gars found outside of Cuba are exported from the Zapata research facility as surplus stock... Otherwise they are Captive not wild-caught as for some reason you keep saying. Cuban Gars are also NOT listed according to the IUCN.. They should be but they are not. Nor are they Cites Listed. Cuba strictly regulates international trade in them on their own terms and conditions. They have not asked for or even suggested further international regulations in regards to them.

My comments aside from this I'll just keep to myself other than saying two things..

1. There is a special place in hell for you to take what is not yours from research of these fish. I really do not care what your "reasoning" is or justification. You stole the fish even by your own account... You even have the nerve to cockly gloat about it. Really really LOW ethics and behavior being demonstrated here and I really hope that others see this clearly in you and avoid any dealing with you. It is rather clear that you have no issue with conning and stealing from others for your own self gratification. Really it is quite seriously disappointing to have to read through this and I will most definitely make sure that I find the person you have stole this fish from and I will let them know about all of this. Dude.. there are only a very few working with Gars in academia (and even fewer that have Tristoechus on their CV). If you thought that all this would just float over you, you are very wrong.

2. If you were smart you wouldn't have posted about it in open forum

So anyhow.... Enjoy your fish much because you with this particular move just Blacklisted yourself for good in the Gar community as far as I'm concerned. Hope it was worth it to you...

Well that person did found out about it that I'm keeping one and he got no issue about it. He does often come to my place and watch my fish. In fact he wants to order again for next year.

 

[Polypterus]

Well that person did found out about it that I'm keeping one and he got no issue about it. He does often come to my place and watch my fish. In fact he wants to order again for next year.

Um sure... thats nice Bye bye.....