Hey, Guys. My name is Ret Talbot, and I am a California-based writer and photographer who frequently reports on the hobby and the trade in general. I was fortunate enough to be in Papua New Guinea when this fish was collected. I was there researching the SEASMART Program for an article, and I have been following this fish since it entered the States last week. As many of you now know, it was sold to Matt Pedersen, who will be attempting to breed the fish. You can follow his blog about his efforts here:
http://www.lightning-maroon-clownfish.com/
For more of the (very cool) background on this fish, check out the lengthy article published by Blue Zoo Aquatics, the retailer that handled the retail sale:
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/resources.asp?show=416
There is also a shorter article on the SEASMART site:
http://www.seasmart.ecoez.com/spotlight.html
In terms of the price question, I can tell you that the highest bid for the fish was well in excess of US$5000. The US$2,500 price cited in the ReefBuilders article was based on the price seen at the Blue Zoo Collector's Choice store when the fish was first listed for sale. Blue Zoo decided to put the fish in the hands of a reputable breeder instead of simply selling it to the highest bidder--pretty cool, if you ask me.
What else is cool about this fish? Lots, but the fact that it was sustainably collected and the fisher was well compensated is worth knowing. For more background on the fish or the SEASMART Program in general, you can check out my blog about the trip here:
http://www.rettalbot.com/onassignment/PNG.html
Oh yea...and here's a pictured I snapped in PNG.
Enjoy!