PlanetCatfish.com

Hi everyone
I am just curious. What are the most expensive plecos on the market? I am not thinking about hybrids or individual mutants, but actual species or L-numbers. Of course individual shops can operate with insane prices, so this is not an exact science.

I would say Panaque cochliodon is the most expensive pleco followed closely by H. zebra...

Yeah! It´s really wierd! I got blue eyes too, but it hasn´t helped me much on the other market

This is an example from an old gross pricelist from my mailboks:
PSEUDACNTHICUS L-25 22-26cm 1395,- nkr
That is about 200$ in to the shop without taxes.

I too got blue eyes...

This is really cheap compared to the prices you normally get the fishes i mentioned above...
Its also cheap for an L25 that size in general...

I have never even seen a Panaque cocliodon on lists or in local shops.

Last time I saw 3cm H. zebra pups from a supplier they were about 142$ as inprice for the shops before taxes. That was a yesr ago, and the fish were bred in Scandinavia.

There was a large going for several hundred pounds in Pier Aquatics and I've also seen £300 footlong too.

Having said that, I've got a pair of from the Venezuela that I flew out, traveled and caught under my own steam and imported back to the UK. What price them?

Jools

I have seen mature wild caught H. zebra being sold for 700euros each at a good Lfs here in Greece which specializes on Loricariids...
And have heard of Panaque cochliodon going from 900-1500euros...

I'm not being a Larry Vires here, you can check up on this story with the guy, but I bought a blue eyed panaque for about £100 from a private seller up the valleys, abertilery to be precise. I swapped it to my mate Phil Aspinal who has a company called just catfish in east Yorkshire because in a practical fishkeeping artical he said he was looking for one after his died.
Really nice fish very mellow and really black with really blue eyes.
Anyway I saw one for sale on aquarist classified a while later and it was going for £1000.

Matt

Kostas wrote:I have seen mature wild caught H. zebra being sold for 700euros each at a good Lfs here in Greece which specializes on Loricariids...
And have heard of Panaque cochliodon going from 900-1500euros...

...in switzerland for example this would be no miracle...big catfish of rare or special speziesare rediculously expensive!!! germany is cheap in compare to switzerland.

Pseudohemidion apithanos for about 85.- SFr. this is about 70US$
i just bought another L204 90.-SFr. ...74US$

imagine the H.zebra, or any big catfish


farid

Haavard,

If you was living in Japan you would need to offer one of your oil plattform you have on the north sea to buy the most expensive pleco

Janne

There are some significant cultureral differences when it comes to pricing collectables.

L250 still commands a 5 grand price tag per fish
seeing as only 8 were collected legally since 1999 i think thats what the article i read said

My importer list of catfishes this month is currently topped by a:
L234 Megalancistrus parananus 40-50cm for about 1400€.

Regards,

Francisco

It sounds to me awfully overpriced...I can get a 40cm Megalancistrus parananus for 300-400euros
Of course in Portugal things may be different...

Generally I'd say H.Luteus ....in every country they seem to be the most expensive.

The most expensive I've seen is a yellow and black spotted Chaetostoma going for £300 or about US$600.

It has an L number but I don't remember what it is.

The most expensive pleco I've not seen is .

Jools

Jools wrote:The most expensive pl*co I've not seen is

Neblinichthys

.

Jools

That was a really cool fish. Are the pictures from an alcohol preserved specimen? Looks kind of brown and dead

I don`t think any Neblinichthys ever have come live from Rio Baria system in Venezuela.

In WelsAtlas 2, its a lot of information about the genus Neblinicyhys and more pictures of another dead species.

Back too topic.
Panaque sp. `peru`(Shampupa or Shamper)is a expencive Pleco. I'am proud too say that next week I will get two. Realy looking forward too getting them.

E

that is an awesoem fish though reminds me of a bristelnose who got stuck into the hair gell LOL
but it would eb a shame if everyone collected died soemone out there must have a live specimen

*chris* wrote:but it would be a shame if everyone collected died soemone out there must have a live specimen

Chris,

I don't think you understand the process... When scientists find a new species, they kill them by preserving them in alcohol for study and ultimately museum collections. All the pictures we have of are from preserved specimens.

Erlend is right in that this fish hasn't ever been exported - that's why I reckoned it _would_ be the most expensive at least for a while...

Jools

I know what jools is saying but...........

taksan wrote:Generally I'd say H.Luteus ....in every country they seem to be the most expensive.

This rings true to me, just seen one for £500, not the most desired colour and not for the first time at that price

That is a rather high price for such a vulgar pleco

Most H.luteus in the trade are fairly big (20 cm ++), which also makes them more expensive. This is because a box of these contains barely a handful of specimens, which means that the freight charges per individual is pretty high...But of course the fish is expensive in the first place. 50 cm Megalancistrus parananus are extremely expensive, those I can get now would cost approx £1000,-!!! I guess the most expensive one compared to it's size would be the so-called L236...but let's not enter a debate here wether they are real or not ;)

I wouldn´t be surpriced if it turned out to be the same species as L66, L333 and maybe L401. I definetely think the L236 is more beautiful though.

Jools wrote:
When scientists find a new species, they kill them by preserving them in alcohol

Jools

Scientists are scumbags why kill something?

Don't know about alcohol preserving much the more I imbibe the less preserved I look.

taksan wrote:

Jools wrote:
When scientists find a new species, they kill them by preserving them in alcohol

Jools

Scientists are scumbags why kill something?

Err, are you asking that seriously?

Jools

There really should be an evil scientist emoticon....

Seriously, I don't think any scientist takes any pleasure in killing a fish, but there is really no other way to study them.

Without cutting them up you cannot tell how they have evolved, or sometimes even which species they are.

These scientists are people, and many of them are also fishkeepers.

taksan wrote:Scientists are scumbags why kill something?

I don't think this was seriously. After all, this:

Don't know about alcohol preserving much the more I imbibe the less preserved I look.

certainly was not

I do like the line, however

i also think l250's are the most expensive and only 8 are known to be of existence at the moment and i think all of them are in germany and japan now so and i dont think they'v been bred . there pricetag is a couple of grand in GBP as far as i know