There’s been a veritable parade of new and rare angelfish entering the aquarium hobby as of late, it’s getting a little hard to keep up with it all. Between the Ballina angelfish video, captive bred personatus angelfish, scribbled and hybrid emperor angelfish and weirdo pygmy angelfish from the Philippines, it’s getting hard for a Pomacanthid to stand out but Nahacky’s angelfish from the Northwest Pacific is one species which still stands out in a crowd.
A sole and very expensive specimen of Centropyge nahackyi was discovered and collected in the Hawaiian Islands and after a thorough conditioning period, this highly valuable specimen has unsurprisingly gone to rare fish powerhouse Blue Harbor. Just about this time last year a different lonely Nahacky’s angelfish was spotted and filmed in Hawaii, a long way from home, but we’ve been assured that this one which was collected for aquarium life is another individual.
Centropyge nahackyi naturally ranges around Johnston Atoll in an isolated patch of the North Pacific Ocean where no one is lives and even setting foot on the island is restricted to special-use permits. However, every now and then some larval angelfish get swept to the Hawaiian Islands where these isolated individuals called waifs end up living solitary life where they can only rub fins with flame, potters and fishers pygmy angelfishes.
This one specimen of Nahacky’s angelfish seems to be adapting very well to aquarium life and it could be one of the first ever Centropyge nahackyi ever to enter the aquarium hobby. We wish its future owner good fortunes in keeping this very valuable fish alive for a very long time and thanks to Blue Harbor for documenting and sharing their very special Centropyge with the rest of the world.
