Top 10 most expensive fish in the world

Fish, rich in minerals and polyunsaturated acids, is an important component of the human diet. Ukha, steaks, dried and smoked – there are a huge number of ways to cook it.

Along with the usual herring or flounder, there is a fish so exotic that it is included in the Guinness Book of Records and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars at thematic auctions. Its uniqueness may lie in its unusual coloring, its heavy weight, or even its lethal venom content.

In this article, we will talk about 10 examples of the most expensive fish in the world, which, despite the huge cost, finds its buyer.

10 Fugu fish | 100 – 500$

Puffer fish belongs to the family of pufferfish and is famous for the fact that after eating it you can die.

The body of an adult contains enough tetrodotoxin to kill 10 people, and there is still no antidote. The only way to save a person is to artificially ensure the work of the respiratory tract and the cardiovascular system.

This is what has become the reason for its popularity, especially in Japanese cuisine (in other countries there are practically no cooks with the appropriate qualifications).

To cook it, the chef must undergo special training and obtain permission, and those who want to tickle their nerves with a gastronomic delight will have to pay from 100 to 500 dollars apiece.

In many Asian countries, puffer fishing is prohibited, as is its sale, but this does not stop everyone. So, in Thailand, fish can be bought at almost every fish market, although there is an official ban in the country.

Interesting fact: thanks to numerous scientific studies, it has become possible to grow “safe” puffer fish that does not contain tetrodotoxin. It is perfectly safe to eat it, but it is no longer interesting. It does not enjoy popularity: without risk to life, people are not ready to pay for it.

9. Goldfish | 1 500$

There is only one name in this fish from gold (given because of the characteristic color of the scales), but the price is quite comparable with jewelry made of precious metal (although the latter may even cost less).

It cannot be said that gold fish many times healthier or tastier than cheaper fish, and it doesn’t know how to fulfill desires, it’s just that it’s not perch, you can’t catch it in the river, which is why exotic lovers have to pay one and a half thousand American rubles.

They catch it only in one place near the South Korean island of Cheyu, which largely determines the price: if it lived somewhere else, it would cost less.

8. Beluga albino | 2 500$

Beluga albino belongs to the sturgeon family, so the most valuable thing in it is caviar. Due to the fact that she rarely goes to spawn (life expectancy is about 40 years, although it used to be up to 100) and is also listed in the Red Book, this pleasure is not cheap.

Beluga is the largest of all freshwater fish – the weight can exceed 1 ton. Her caviar is the rarest and most expensive in the world: 2,5 thousand dollars costs only 100 grams, that is, one sandwich will cost more than the monthly salary of many people.

7. Arowana | $80 000

The cherished dream of many aquarists belongs to the oldest representatives of the water element and is valued primarily not for taste, but for appearance. The elongated head, the presence of a dentary in the lower part of the mouth and, of course, the color – all this makes it different from others.

She is also called dragon fish, and, according to legend, it is able to bring good luck to its owner. Considering that one copy arowanas costs ~80 dollars, this could at least partially justify its price.

Purple, red, and gold-tinted specimens are valued the most: many large companies buy them for aquariums in their office, thereby showing their worth.

It is considered the most expensive albino arowana, which does not have a single speck and is completely white. The price tag for such a fish may well exceed $ 100.

6. Tuna 108 kg | $178 000

Tuna is a fish to eat: tasty, healthy and not so expensive compared to others from our rating, but especially large specimens are another matter. The fishermen who caught tuna weighing 108 kg may consider themselves lucky as the whole fish was sold for $178.

It is simply not advisable to cut it and sell it “by weight”, since the impressive price tag is formed just on the basis of the size, which in this case matters.

5. Tuna 200 kg | $230 000

Another tuna (not the last on the list) is 92 kg heavier than the previous one and cost exactly 52 more.

It, like the 108-kilogram one, was sold at the Tokyo auction (yes, there are such fish auctions) in 2000 and the auction was quite hot. Many high-end restaurants and individuals wanted to get it, which is clearly seen in the final rate.

On that moment tuna 200 kg was the largest, but subsequently the record was updated several times.

4. Russian sturgeon | $289 000

This specimen was caught in the Tikhaya Sosna River (the right tributary of the Don in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions) back in 1924 by local fishermen.

It is hard to even imagine how they managed to pull such a carcass out of the water: the weight was 1 kg. As already mentioned, the most valuable thing in sturgeons is caviar, and this “monster” kept almost a quarter of a ton (227 kg) of precious delicacy.

Of course, at that time, fishermen from the Russian hinterland could not go to the Tokyo auction and sell Russian sturgeon for the bourgeois currency, and the auction itself has not yet taken place, but if such a “fish” were caught now, the price would be approximately 289 “evergreens” (due to this, it was included in the Guinness Book of Records). And so, probably, they ate it all around.

3. Platinum arowana | 400 000$

Speaking of arowanas, we did not mention this one because this fish is unique: it exists in a single copy and is owned by a Singaporean millionaire, and experts (yes, there are experts in such things) estimate it at $ 400.

Despite regular offers, he categorically refuses to sell it, preferring the possession of such a phenomenon to money. The rich, as they say, have their own quirks.

It would probably be very embarrassing if platinum arowana, equivalent in price to a villa, on the ocean will be eaten by a cat.

2. Tuna 269 kg | $730 000

This tuna was caught in 2012. They all sold it at the same Tokyo auction for a very impressive amount – $ 730. At that time, it was a record holder who beat the weight and price achievements of his brothers, which we mentioned earlier.

However, the record tuna per 269 kg did not last long because of our next “hero”.

1. Bluefin tuna 222 kg | $1

“Here it is, the fish of my dreams” – probably something like this the owner of the restaurant thought when he saw bluefin tuna 222 kg at an auction in the Japanese capital.

The absolute record holder (so far) in terms of cost was bought for the purpose of subsequent sale “in pieces”, that is, in portions.

Also, we should not forget about advertising: the purchase of such fish is an excellent marketing ploy.

A small portion of this tuna will cost the buyer 20 euros, which, by the standards of a foreign restaurant, is mere pennies. By paying this kind of “divine” amount, the client can taste the most expensive fish in history, no matter how paradoxical it may look.