Golden Bass (Liopropoma aberrans) on Video from Blue Harbor

We’re finally starting to wrap up our coverage of the numerous super rare fish that have been showing up in Japan via Blue Harbor. The last of the fish we’ll talk about is the Golden Bass (Liopropoma aberrans), a deepwater basslet that is found in the Caribbean and western parts of the Atlantic. This fish was hauled up from a depth of several hundred feet with the help of a submersible, which greatly helped with the fish’s decompression (more on fish decompression below) and reduces the risks the dive poses to fish collectors. The L. aberrans is so extremely rare in the hobby that this footage is the only video of its kind. The combination of the fish’s rarity and the costs of catching it (i.e. submersible expenses) will likely make this fish extremely expensive, as in $10,000 or more.

When fish are caught at extreme depths and brought to the surface, they have to be degassed along the way. This especially holds true when the fish are caught by a SCUBA diver using special equipment. On their way back to the surface, the diver and his catch must stop at regular intervals in order to readjust to the decreasing water pressure. The fish’s swim bladder expands along the way, and the diver must pierce the swim bladder with a small needle to relieve the pressure. This is a perfectly acceptable practice, as the fish can recover from the needle wounds. After the fish is brought to the surface, additional care must be taken to ensure the fish recovers and adjusts to its new environment.