possibility of Lake turkana polypterids in U.S.

neildie

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2012
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Hey guys, been a few years since i posted on here, but it would be great if i could get some info on the availability of pbb from lake turkana in the US. As well as kamihata f1 specimens or the like. I wanted to find out whether they were being exported out of japan or if there was someone i could contact regarding this question. tokyogasmask and king-el , i need you !! thanks a bunch !
 

King-eL

Polypterus
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2008
7,178
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Philippines and Canada
It's best to go there and get to know the El Molo tribes as they are the one that will fish out the bichirs for you. Yes everything comes with the high prices. Anything that can afford them to buy camels. Also you will need to have armed escorts and travel in a convoy which will also be pricey to prevent you from encountering the "shiftas", the rebels over there. If you do not have an armed trusted escort, you will run into risk of kidnapping.
 

neildie

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2012
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damn. looks like i don't even have a slight chance at getting some. thanks for clearing that one up lol. But what about the kamihata f1 pbb, or the indonesian bred ones ( even if they are low quality in comparison . the chad pbb are now quite easy to acquire, but i was wondering why indo pbb were not here in the US yet as well.
 

tokyogasmask

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 1, 2009
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Japan
Hi.
Big-in have a handful of Turkana PBB still. (including my old girl)
They are the only place you will find them, and sadly they refuse to have them leave Japan.
Missing a trick really as they could make a lot of money exporting them.

Also getting fish out of Japan can be a pain, but is possible.
I came close to setting something up for some contacts in SG once but when I saw the things both parties need to do, it really was too much hassle.

IMO, there really isn't much difference between Turkana and PBB.
I noticed the difference in mass, and also coloration.
The Turkana head is slightly different too.

As for Kamihata, they no longer produce F1. They stopped that a long time ago, and the quality of their Bichirs now are pretty low IMO.

Do yourself a favour and enjoy your Chad PBB.

As for getting Turkana PBB out of Africa, King-eL pretty much summed it up perfectly.
Most of the fish supposedly are in the deeper part of the Lake which I think is in Ethiopian territory, and is controlled by some very nasty people.
 

King-eL

Polypterus
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2008
7,178
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92
Philippines and Canada
Hi.
Big-in have a handful of Turkana PBB still. (including my old girl)
They are the only place you will find them, and sadly they refuse to have them leave Japan.
Missing a trick really as they could make a lot of money exporting them.

Also getting fish out of Japan can be a pain, but is possible.
I came close to setting something up for some contacts in SG once but when I saw the things both parties need to do, it really was too much hassle.

IMO, there really isn't much difference between Turkana and PBB.
I noticed the difference in mass, and also coloration.
The Turkana head is slightly different too.

As for Kamihata, they no longer produce F1. They stopped that a long time ago, and the quality of their Bichirs now are pretty low IMO.

Do yourself a favour and enjoy your Chad PBB.

As for getting Turkana PBB out of Africa, King-eL pretty much summed it up perfectly.
Most of the fish supposedly are in the deeper part of the Lake which I think is in Ethiopian territory, and is controlled by some very nasty people.
Before night fall or early morning when the sun goes up they would actually stay up patrolling closer to the surface in deeper water or close to the beach in shallow water where they bask out in the sun where the water is calm. Then at night it's when they go down and become active looking for food to eat. It's when that time they are able to catch them as sometimes they would go sky rocket up to 2-3 feet or more out of the water, gulping for air. They do set traps as well but most of the time, they are dead from drowning if not on time or being eaten by other preds such as the nile crocs.

Soon I'll get myself some turkana PBB and other turkana bichirs. I just need to save up more for another trip again.
 

neildie

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2012
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thanks for the input guys, love learning about the places where these spescies come from , as well as what people have to go through just to get these fish. earl, are you saying youve been to the places where they catch bichirs and met the people who have caught them? please do tell more about your bichir adventures, it is really interesting and intriguing. tokyogasmask, thanks so much for the post, is there any particular reason as to why big-in refuses to let the turkana pbb out of the country ? thanks.
 

tokyogasmask

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 1, 2009
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Japan
Neildie, it's just one of their strange policies.
Along with having to hand your cellphone in at the door!

I have helped non-Japanese residents get fish and reptiles from big-in before, and im always willing to help, but helping them get the fish out of Japan is too much hassle for me.
 

Mount_Prion

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 31, 2012
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This post is incredibly interesting. Just wanted to point it out.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

neildie

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 18, 2012
86
0
36
CA
tokyogasmask, thanks so much for the input, love learning about these great fish, been keeping them for years, but this just proves how we, as fish keepers still know very little about them and their regional variations. is it because japan has strict animal export laws , or what?

mount_prion, thanks ! haha
 
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