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Hello Reef2Reef! I thought it would be interesting to make a article highlighting this uber rare angelfish. This is only the 3rd time one has been seen & photographed alive! I hope you all enjoy the read
~ Eric from Unique Fins
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Apolemichthys guezei is a deep dwelling elusive species of Angelfish endemic to Reunion Island "La Reunion", a French territory off the cost of Madagascar, basically a mid point to Mauritius. Reunion Island is also home to Centropyge Debelius, the rare $15,000 Debelius Angelfish periodically seen at depths deeper than 45m.
Once considered a myth, the Reunion Island Angelfish was first caught in gill nets around 60m (~200ft), and officially described by Jack Randall in the 80s. As the story goes, Jack dove the dropoff and around the area for 2 weeks at the same depth and never saw this species again. It wasn't until another 20 years that the Guezei Angelfish was spotted again, photographed by Hugues Vitry at 65m. Another decade later, in 2019, Patrick Plantard, a technical rebreather diver based in Reunion photographed for this fish for the second time in history at 90m deep (300ft). Jake Adams released an article on Reef Builders crowning this species the "Bigfoot of Rare Fish".
Fast forward to today, Patrick Plantard released another photo of Apolemichthys guezei, (the 3rd time this species was ever photographed) and reported that this specimen was spotted at Caesar's Rock, at a depth of 90m (300ft)!
Photo Credit: Patrick Plantard
In the aquarium trade:
This species has never been collected for the aquarium trade. There is a couple reasons for this: there is no active aquarium collection in Reunion (apparently the islands waters are protected) (however, I couldn't find a solid source for this).
Even if allowed, Reunion is also very remote so it would be close to impossible for collection, not even considering this species is one of the most cryptic angelfish in the world and likey won't be found.
The closest we got to a Guezei being collected was in 2018 when T. Bennett, a deep water fish collector was collecting in Mauritius and stumbled upon what was appeared to be a Guezei, but turned out to be a bispo (tiger tail coral beauty).
While doing further research into this species, I uncovered a decade old thread about a user who met with Daniel Pelicier, a prominent deepwater fish collector who was based out of Mauritius collecting Centropyge Debelius. (If this name rings a bell, you have probably heard of him for his namesake fish The Peliciers Perchlet, which he discovered deep diving in Mauritius) according to this thread Daniel said he had dove to 100m (330ft) countless times in Mauritus and Reunion and never spotted a Guezei. His theory was they are more commonly found deep, such as 300m (990ft), however this was never confirmed. Whether Apolemichthys guezei is just a very cryptic species, occurs in deeper water, or has an abundant population in a undiscovered place we may never know.
- Eric from Unique Fins
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or want to pick my brain about anything please comment!
Hello Reef2Reef! I thought it would be interesting to make a article highlighting this uber rare angelfish. This is only the 3rd time one has been seen & photographed alive! I hope you all enjoy the read
~ Eric from Unique Fins
---
Apolemichthys guezei is a deep dwelling elusive species of Angelfish endemic to Reunion Island "La Reunion", a French territory off the cost of Madagascar, basically a mid point to Mauritius. Reunion Island is also home to Centropyge Debelius, the rare $15,000 Debelius Angelfish periodically seen at depths deeper than 45m.
Once considered a myth, the Reunion Island Angelfish was first caught in gill nets around 60m (~200ft), and officially described by Jack Randall in the 80s. As the story goes, Jack dove the dropoff and around the area for 2 weeks at the same depth and never saw this species again. It wasn't until another 20 years that the Guezei Angelfish was spotted again, photographed by Hugues Vitry at 65m. Another decade later, in 2019, Patrick Plantard, a technical rebreather diver based in Reunion photographed for this fish for the second time in history at 90m deep (300ft). Jake Adams released an article on Reef Builders crowning this species the "Bigfoot of Rare Fish".
Fast forward to today, Patrick Plantard released another photo of Apolemichthys guezei, (the 3rd time this species was ever photographed) and reported that this specimen was spotted at Caesar's Rock, at a depth of 90m (300ft)!
Photo Credit: Patrick Plantard
In the aquarium trade:
This species has never been collected for the aquarium trade. There is a couple reasons for this: there is no active aquarium collection in Reunion (apparently the islands waters are protected) (however, I couldn't find a solid source for this).
Even if allowed, Reunion is also very remote so it would be close to impossible for collection, not even considering this species is one of the most cryptic angelfish in the world and likey won't be found.
The closest we got to a Guezei being collected was in 2018 when T. Bennett, a deep water fish collector was collecting in Mauritius and stumbled upon what was appeared to be a Guezei, but turned out to be a bispo (tiger tail coral beauty).
While doing further research into this species, I uncovered a decade old thread about a user who met with Daniel Pelicier, a prominent deepwater fish collector who was based out of Mauritius collecting Centropyge Debelius. (If this name rings a bell, you have probably heard of him for his namesake fish The Peliciers Perchlet, which he discovered deep diving in Mauritius) according to this thread Daniel said he had dove to 100m (330ft) countless times in Mauritus and Reunion and never spotted a Guezei. His theory was they are more commonly found deep, such as 300m (990ft), however this was never confirmed. Whether Apolemichthys guezei is just a very cryptic species, occurs in deeper water, or has an abundant population in a undiscovered place we may never know.
- Eric from Unique Fins
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or want to pick my brain about anything please comment!
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