@Ebirah766 I was surprised when I saw this picture here as well! Must have cost a small fortune I'm assuming. Nice to see that they are being spread around.
@splendens@Ebirah766 I made a mistake in the title, this is Ptychochromis oligacanthus (Tsipoy), NOT P. insolitus (Mangarahara), my mistake! When I first kept this species in 2017 in Singapore, I paid nearly 300 SGD each for fingerlings. Prices have dropped by nearly 80% since! I currently house one individual of this species (he axed his partner not too long ago), and one individual of Ptychochromis grandidieri 'East Coast Gold.'
These are all captive progeny from broodstock that originated from the population on Nosy Be. I used to house and breed 8 different species of cichlid from Madagascar, of which some of them I may now never be able to acquire again as the only known captive populations exist in the U.S. and Canada.
As for the Mangarahara (P. insolitus), there are several in private hands from Europe. I had placed an order for them in 2023, 15 fingerlings going for a little over 200 SGD each, only to end up with all of them D.O.A. Unfortunately, the vendor I liaised with was not interested in importing such a niche species, so I may never be able to get my hands on them again. A shame, as I wanted to establish a colony in Singapore, to hopefully introduce some animals to our local freshwater public aquarium for public viewing.
