Technically, ORA succeeded in breeding the never-before-seen-in-the-trade Japanese Kamohara Fang Blenny in Fall, 2014, but other than a casual mention on their Facebook page of the success, they sat and waited to show off this stunning addition to the world of captive-bred marine fishes. Officially, Meiacanthus kamoharai is the first new fish for ORA to debut in 2015.
We first wrote of this beautiful fish back in 2010, publishing a personal ad from M. kamoharai, detailing their desire to be brought from the waters of Japan to the US, where they could be fruitful and multiply. 18 months later, we took another look at this lovely, unobtainable fish in 2012. You could say the first step towards making that wish a reality came in 2013, when ORA’s broodstock was collected by none other than Koji Wada himself along the shores of Japan, not even 2 years ago.
And so it has come full circle. In what seems like overnight for the breeding of a new marine fish, ORA has proven that captive-breeding can truly be entirely responsible for bringing a species to the aquarium hobby.
ORA is set to start shipping the Kamohara Blenny this week, citing that this species has proven to be very robust in captivity, and given its sub-tropical origins, it can actually tolerate temperatures from 60-80F without issue, making the species equally at home in a SPS reef tank, or one of the growing numbers of more cool water marine aquariums popping up around the country. A truly spectacular fish, shown above is a juvenile. Below is an image of an adult, photographed by Lemon Tea Yi Kai, which should give you an idea how splendid they are at any stage of their life.
For more information, see the ORA Blog post and Product Page.
