don't get me wrong, some cichlids are nice and some are certainly rare, but you can breed most of them, and most become available in larger quantities sooner or later, for example some rare or use to be rare:
paratroplus manarambo-almost extinct in the wild, someone bred the crap out of them, nice fish nontheless
paratilapia bleekeri, almost extinct in the wild too, now the babies are like $5.00 each!
uaru fernandezyepezi, pretty rare, pretty nice, until someone in thailand gets a hold of them and starts to breed the crap out of them like discus. still very high on my respected list of cichlids
etroplus canarensis-its actually rare in the wild also
feel free to add to that list, other than that, some just haven't been discovered yet, remote locations, or they're "evolving" into a new color morph or "in-breeding" in a specific area, resulting in a similar characteristic not seen anywhere else, which makes them unique, and cool. But if technology wasn't so advanced like it is today, 100 years back, if I had bred some flower horns in peru and released them in a remote lake, and now you guys find it, guess what? You'll think you've got a million dollar wild guapote
enough with me rambling on... I'm not just promoting my fish here, but honestly, RARE FISH is only rare when its rare, whether in the hobby or in the wild. Like asian arows, they're readily available in southeast asia. Many people in this country have kept them, seen them and or know someone who has. On the other hand... siniperca scherzeri or any other sinperca or coreoperca sp. besides the farm raised chautsi?
I've been deliberating on this rare topic for years and you all know I only like Rare Fish, I'm a hobbyist like all of you, not a strict businessman like some of the other sellers, I will often not sell a fish in my possession because I simply like it. I will also only sell what I have and not what I see on importers lists or before I get them, there are certain guidelines I abide with.
I've done my research on the "other" siniperca type perch fish, most of them are endangered, not accessible in the wild and or both not available obviously to the hobbyist alike. I've worked very hard on getting these fish, set up a 400 plus gallon system just for these guys and currently keeping 3 of the dozen or so species out there, and on the quest for more of the other ones! Even in Japan, I've looked through my magazine collection of over 20 years old, only a few mentions of these fish. On current websites, only occasionally for sell, labeled as rare, priced at such, and always, "sold out". And never gold or platinum colored ones.
Let me know if you know someone who has another species of them. You know I'll pay good money and do what it takes to get them
This fish is only fit for the rich and famous snobs 
