We’re so proud to announce our first accomplishment as Surge Marine Life is a hybrid Zebrasoma tang! Which species you ask?
Well, we’re actually still asking the same question ourselves. What we have here is an unconfirmed hybrid of two out of three possible species: Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum), Gem Tang (Zebrasoma gemmatum), and Scopas Tang (Zebrasoma scopas). We’re currently working toward getting a positive identification through DNA analysis, but in the meantime, we wanted to be able to offer these to the market and share them with the world. What do you think we have?
Our website www.surgemarinelife.com will be going live tonight and we’ll begin taking orders and shipping immediately! Supply is very limited and we can’t be sure we’ll ever be able to recreate this cross, so interested parties act quickly!
Thanks so much for following along with this exciting first release and we look forward to adding to our collection of offerings in 2024!
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Editor’s Notes: As of 1/19/24, these hybrid tangs have been released to market with an open asking price of $10,000 per fish, by the new Florida-based marine ornamental aquaculture company Surge Marine Life. This price is comparable to the current retail value assigned to the “Yurple” Tang, a captive-bred hybrid of Purple X Yellow Tang (Z. xanthurum X flavescens), which is also currently retailing at approximately $10,000 (e.g., at Biota and Marine Collectors). Sentiment among aquarists seems to be leaning toward the idea that these tangs are most likely a hybrid of the Gem and Purple tangs.
Such pricing may seem unreasonable to some, and out of reach to others, however, it reflects the true rarity of a never-before-seen fish. The early-adopter exclusivity that supports these asking prices rewards the speculative efforts and R&D expenditure of the producer and paves the way for greater diversity and larger-scale production of desirable fishes.
It is also worth mentioning that whichever hybrid these fishes turn out to be, there is little opportunity for this hybrid to occur in nature. But such hybrids are found on rare occasions. The hybrid of Scopas X Gem Tang has been documented twice from Mauritius, and the Scopas Tang has also been shown to hybridize in nature with the Yellow Tang and the Black Tang (Z. rostratum).
Be on the lookout for more from Surge Marine Life in a future issue of CORAL Magazine! – Matt Pedersen
More Examples Of The New Hybrid Tangs from Surge Marine Life
