The Resplendent angelfish, Centropyge resplendens, is one of the most highly sought after pygmy angelfish species in the world. Hailing only from Ascension Island in the isolated center of the Atlantic Ocean, the resplendent angelfish was once a commonly available species in the marine aquarium trade. Once upon a time you could walk into any old fish store and buy this fish for well under $100. Since the restriction on exporting any marine life out of Ascension Island these days you are hard pressed to find any living specimens anywhere. This particular specimen of Respendent Angelfish is the same captive raised individual from Reef Culture Technologies that was featured in a previous LA Fishguy video that we posted a few months back. 
Jim Stime was kind enough to let Joe Yaiullo and I visit his Jelliquarium headquarters, where the Resplendent angelfish has a reef aquarium more or less unto itself. It’s fascinating to think that this fish has an ancestral home in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean yet it was born in raised in seawater from the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii. There’s no telling how many living specimens remain alive in captivity in the United States; this five year old specimen from RCT is the only one we know of as most of the captive raised C. resplendens were shipped to Asian buyers willing to pay much more for them. We want to thank Jim Stime for letting us document this wonderful fish and also Joe Yaiullo, for entertaining a road trip to teh extreme northern end of Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy the video of the Resplendent Angelfish which is one of a kind in a High Definition version so don’t hesitate to hit that fullscreen button.
