The gods of saltwater angelfish breeding have once again provided for the lucky reefing community, this time in the form of a captive-bred Bandit Angelfish, Apolemichthys arcuatus.
Native to the Hawaiian and Johnston islands in the Eastern Central Pacific, Bandit Angelfish ceased to be available when the West Hawaiian Fishery was shut down in 2021. Unlike more widespread Flame Angels, however, these striking black and white deep-water angels haven’t appeared elsewhere in the supply chain until now.
So our eyes lit up when rare fish store Unique Fins messaged us with images of a juvenile (tank-bred,) Bandit Angel. The news that one is legally available after three years is already awesome, but the news that it is captive-bred is even better because it comes with ALL the plus points that saltwater angelfish aquaculture brings with it.
Origin
Unique Fins tell us that the pictured fish was bred by Japanese wholesaler Kamihata, they have only produced one stable batch to date, it’s 1.3” long, it’s in the US, and it’s for sale. It’s also being quarantined and is currently accepting dry foods.
Price
Unique Fins are currently considering offers over $5k, a few times more expensive than they were pre-Hawaii ban, but just for the record, wild-caught Hawaiian Bandit angels are not coming back, even if the fishery reopens.
We love Bandit Angels, but we were sad that they weren’t coming back, and getting bored of people asking us where they could get one. Today our prayers have been answered, and we think a Bandit-hungry angel collector will still snap this one up, even at that price.
