text: If you have five thousand pounds to spare and you want to keep one of the world's most sought-after tropical fish, contact specialist rare fish wholesaler Tom Halvorsen in Northumberland.
  Tom has recently taken delivery of a pair of what are widely regarded as the world's rarest species of snakehead, the stunning Channa barca.
  If you're interested, the pair could be yours for just five grand.
  This is an extremely rare species in the hobby and in science which is known only from a handful of specimens.
  Says Tom: "They are one of the rarest species of freshwater fish ever to be seen, in both captivity and in the wild.
  "Unlike many other new, rare or rediscovered fish species that become available in huge quantities once their geographic distribution is known, such as Botia kubotai and many L-number plecs, Channa barca is probably very rare in the wild, or very secretive.
  "Most people have never seen a single specimen alive, even if they may have lived their whole life along the riverbanks of its natural distribution area."
  Tom says that the species is so rare that even museum collections have very small numbers of preserved fish available for study.
  He told us: "Although the species was described in 1822, worldwide, as far as I know, there are only eight specimens in total.
  "One specimen is privately owned and kept in a tank in Switzerland; two were shipped to Japan and their whereabouts is not known, and the remaining three specimens are preserved in Asian museum collections.