After giving a long winded discussion about saltwater aquariums to a group of interested hobbyists at Fish Gallery last night, I wandered around the store checking out all of the cool livestock they had on display. I saw plenty of corals and fish, but one fish pinged my radar big time. In one of the endcap displays sat a stunning yellow fuzzy dwarf lionfish. Now, I’m not at all a lionfish guy. In my opinion, they are we overplayed in the aquarium trade and they have wrought all sorts of havoc in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. But this was no ordinary lionfish. The yellow lionfish is a very rare color form, as it is only found in one location, the Lembeh Straits. And while most of the yellow lions we have seen online mostly have their yellow coloration limited to the fins and various bands on the body, this individual was basically yellow all over. In fact, there was more yellow on this fish than any other yellow lionfish we’ve ever seen. The fish barely has any dark colored striations on its body. To make it even more appealing, this individual was full of personality, as it would interact with anyone who approached the aquarium.
UPDATE: Fish Gallery contacted us to upate the price. This indivdual retails for $300, which is actually rather inexpensive given the fish’s rarity and unusual coloration.
