It was just over ten years ago that Hopkin’s Jawfish first hit our rare fish radar with its unique blend of blue and gold colors. Opistognathus hopkinsi comes from deep waters of the northwest Pacific Ocean so very little is known about this colorful little fish.
Due to its limited distribution and depth preference, it’s only our Japanese reefing brothers who ever have a chance to see – and more rarely – keep this species in an aquarium. As if on cue, Blue Harbor just recently got their hands on a pair of these that were reportedly collected from 100 meters, or around 330 feet deep.
As with so many other super exotics that have landed at the ‘Aquarium Factory’, Kengo Zeze has delivered on some of the clearest and most detailed photographs of Opistognathus hopkinsi. This is the first documentation of Hopkin’s Jawfish since we shared a video clip of this obscure species on display at the Enoshima Aquarium back in 2018.
Interestingly, the Hopkin’s Jawfish is listed for sale on the Blue Harbor website for what we consider to be a very reasonable ¥99,000 or around $933, perhaps the first time this species has ever been listed for sale online. Congratulations to Blue Harbor on scoring not one but two of these elusive, highly desirable fish and big thanks to Kengo Zeze for taking the time to create and share the clearest images of Hopkin’s Jawfish to date.
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