Peru (Lima, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Iquitos, Cusco, Machupichu), then El Salvador 2012

Mastacembelus brichardi One year later, not much change in size. They come out for food. I have a total of 3 fish, not much interaction with each other. They are currenlty living in a 40 gallon long tank with coarse sand on the bottom. Diet: crushed cichlid gold pellets, frozen blood worms.

Notice my username is "fugupuff" I am a life long keeper and enjoy puffers immensely. I've kept probably every species of freshwater puffer fish with the exception of tetraodon schoutedeni, which is an enigmatic fish that has not been seen in the hobby for over 20 years, is it extinct? Well, when I saw these huge diodon hystrix cruising along the Hawaian shores I couldn't resist pulling one out and photographing it. I did release this one. I saw a pair even larger and dancing around each other, it was the most breath taking site to see this in the wild.

Fish I caught along the coast of Hawaii, I never go anywhere in the world without getting my hands and feet a little wet. I once caught a 10 pound northern pike at a guarded palace in England, until I was told to leave. I was only 14 years old that time!

I also caught this fish, at first I thought was Oreochromis mossambicus from the top of the water, but once pulled out, appears more like Oreochromis aureus, these were found in pure salt water, and numbered in the thousands. Surprisingly intelligent, they would attack bread tosssed at them, but avoid bread with a small hook in it. Eventually I was able to trick some dumber ones to take the hook. I call this Oreochromis alwaiensis, unique to this salt water habitat, slowly evolving. I found these next to convict tangs, aholehole (kuhlia xenura), jelly fish, goat fish, porcupine puffers and greater barracudas!

Latest from Hawaii

These are latest pictures taken at Waikiki Aquarium. They are some of the rarest salt water fish known to the hobby.

Rare barb, can anyone name it?

Update of Rhinogobius sp. from China.

This is one of the smaller ones we caught in the trap early morning., I would free some here and there when they weren't looking, since I paid for the fisherman's boat and equipment, and the fish belonged to me, I guess it was ok for me to do it right? This little guy was just too nice to kill and again, didn't have to means to export any of these :(

Siniperca scherzeri "guilin" This fish was caught by a spear fisherman, these are pretty rare in the wild, especially at this size. Look at the amazing leopard pattern on this fish. The other fish below were collected by other fisherman in the morning and all dumped into a big basket, destined for the market. I was debating on buying this perch to free him or to eat him, but I waited a bit too long, and a restaurant owner bought it. It would have cost me about $40.00 usd to buy him direct from the fisherman. There was no way for me to export him, I would either freed him or cooked him up.

Compare this fish to the one below., possibly anostomus sp. ?

Guess what this fish is? Say it out loud what you are thinking in your head, what is your first reaction when seeing this fish?

Cranoglanis bouderius (Richardson 1846) I received 4 of these, one died on arrival. 3 remaining, this is one of the strangest looking wild catfish from China, very peaceful, grows to a max of 15". These are probably a few of the only ones in the US right now! Many of the fish from China are overlooked, when they have just as much color, personality and merits as the South American fish. The main reason is because people are followers, and people have been following the same Axlerod fish collection of Oscars, pacus, and redtail cats, peacock bass, and arowana to tiger barbs. People are simply unfamiliar with all these new fish that are available! To reach the next level, you must enter the world of "unknown" "rarefish"!

One of the fastest growing, predatory freshwater fish from China, it can reach a length of 6 feet and over 150 pounds. It has always been looked at as a pest fish since it will eat all the other commercially valuable fish in the lakes. From my previous experience this fish is peaceful towards other fish it cannot swallow, however it does have a straight gut, meaning that the stomach cannot hold food for longer periods of time, so it must eat frequently. I personally raised one that grew from 1" to 20" in less than 3 months time. This fish is now deemed a delicacy in parts of China and also a highly sought after sport fish. This fish can tolerate a wide range of temperature from near freezing to 80 degrees with no problem. This fish was not available outside of China, nor was it ever in the hobby trade until recently. I had imported 3 live specimens for my collection back in 2006, which cost me 1500 usd each and a huge box to ship each one in. These are now imported at a more manageable size, the one pictured being about 6" total length, feeding on cut shrimp and pellets already. Very hardy fish otherwise, and did I say Rare?

Goby no. 2: I received 5 new species of gobies this time, and these pictures were taken minutes after being placed into their new homes, so their colors are not settled yet, and the other 3 species I am having a hard time finding in the larger tanks, will have to wait until tomorrow. This little gem is very promising though, I have seen one internet photo of it, with a black ventral side, and bright yellow cheeks, can't wait for it to color up!

A few more cool fish to add to the list of rare fish! Goby 1: A new goby found in China, one of the dozens of newer species found, with a lot of color, and these are found far inland, in complete freshwater, they do not need brackish water to complete their breeding cycles. These are all landlocked species.

Rhinogobius filamentosus

Yangso, Li Kiang, Kwangsi Province, southern China. Syntypes: 423-25 (3). •Valid as Ctenogobius filamentosus Wu 1939 -- (Zheng 1989:350 [ref. 21202]). •Valid as Rhinogobius filamentosus (Wu 1939) -- (Chen et al. 2008:341 [ref. 29895]). Current status: Valid as Rhinogobius filamentosus (Wu 1939). Gobiidae: Gobionellinae. Distribution: Gwangxi and Gwangdong provinces, China. Habitat: freshwater, brackish.

Alaska trip