Jesus Larralde, CEO of Farside Tropicals and fish collector extraordinaire has passed away. Jesus was a shining light in the marine aquarium hobby and was an ambitious rising star in the marine aquarium industry. He was featured over two years ago in a Reef Builders spotlight describing his work and contributions to the hobby.
Of all the tropical fish collectors operating our of Florida, Jesus and his company Farside Tropicals was one of the most involved in the American marine aquarium community, and he could frequently be seen discussing his craft at the various trade shows of North America. I leaned on him for animal-specific questions regarding Caribbean marine life quite often and it’s just quite a shock that he was lost to this world much too soon.
Even if you never met Jesus or didn’t know him personally, if you’ve gotten any Caribbean livestock in the last few years, chances are that you might have picked up some animals that originated from his collections. Farside tropicals is widely known as a source for top quality flower anemones, gorgeous gorgonians, lots of exotic fishes, all of which were distributed far and wide in the hobby.
Furthermore, the last legal collection of wild Clarion Angelfish was all his diving and if we recall correctly, Jesus was responsible for collecting an astounding 50 Holacanthus clarionensis in just a few days.
It’s sad enough to lose such an influential member of our tight-knit marine aquarium community, but it’s a greater tragedy that Jesus’s girlfriend is pregnant with his unborn son, Vincent. The passing of Jesus Larralde is a great loss to the marine aquarium hobby in general, and we believe he had much more dents to make in the universe.
If you knew Jesus, or got livestock from Farside Tropicals, or simply love flower anemones that may have been collected by him, please consider supporting his family’s GoFundMe page and contribute to the fundraiser at any level you feel comfortable with. Jesus’s collecting work provided so many people with so many great moments and memories with their tanks, it’s our turn to give back and honor his life which brought joy to reef tanks all over. The Reef Scene won’t be the same without him. [GoFundMe]
