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The elusive sp Borneo

When I was working at Sarawak back in 1997 - 2000 near Bakun dam project, Ive heard from my Indonesia fren tat there exist a type of marulioides that is red in color. Initially I tot they were just tall tale until a few other spoke of the same fish. Unfortunately no pic was provided and only a vague description of the fish was given.

After that I was back in KL,off and on I would try to find out more about the fish but it seem nobody from the peninsula had even heard of such a fish let alone seen one.

And it happened someone posted a similar fish at Monsterfishkeeper forum back in the mid 2000 that the Japanese had acquired such a fish. That was the first time I had seen the sp Borneo. But it was out of touch.

Fast forward to present day, again the sp Borneo bug had bitten me and this time I was determined to get one. Now with the internet technology I joined any available facebook fishing group in Indonesia and whenever an sp borneo was caught I would note down the location to more or less understand the spread of this species.

And when I'm finally satisfied and understand how to ID one I started to offer to buy them and shipped it over. Its a risky business as 100% upfront money is involved. I just have to take the leap of faith.

2017 June I finally got 1, was an 18" fish deep orange in color caught by a young chap at Sampit. My contact had brought the fish to pankalanbun. He was a gentleman where he reserved the fish for me and quarantine them without asking for upfront money. sp.Borneo are just like our peat swamp Channa Marulioides living in harsh low ph environment. Usually we're looking at PH 3 - 4 which is insanely acidic with water that is practically black in color.

First we must convert them to high ph before shipping the fish. Unfortunately my first sp Borneo died on the 3rd week of quarantine.

I found a 2nd pc and again it died in quarantine.

Finally I found a pair thru a good fren of mine and I've manage to bring the fish over. My first sp Borneo after I first heard of it 20 years ago. 

Died during quarantine 
Found this pair 
Collect them at 5am in the morning 
Adjusting water temperature and PH
The sp Borneo 

The most beautiful Channa in my humble opinion. How could such a magnificent fish remained hidden from the outside world for such a long time. They possessed the most intense coloration of all the C.Marulioides. I'm glad I've the opportunity to own two of such beauty.  
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  1. UnknownMay 23, 2021 at 10:47 PM

    so what is the current consensus of the sp Borneo possibly being a different species from the Maru?

    ReplyDelete

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