Pahang Gold?

The discussion of Pahang Gold came up again on ArowanaClub Singapore. So here is what I know about Pahang Gold arowana. Are there any arowanas in Pahang? Apparently, the answer is YES from this research. From this research, it says that green arowanas can be found in Lake Bera, a huge freshwater lake in Pahang.

From this blog, we can also see pictures of green arowanas being fished out. So there is definitely arowanas in Pahang but these are green arowanas. If there are any, the gold arowanas in Pahang are probably extinct or have never existed in Pahang before.

A green arowana from Pahang

A green arowana

So how did the Pahang Gold come about?

There are 2 types of golden arowanas that we know of today. The Indonesia golden arowana, also known as Red Tail Gold (RTG) and the Malaysian golden arowana, also known as Golden Crossback (XB).

RTG, note the gold scales are only up to 4 levels

A golden crossback, note the gold scales will cover the entire body

Top view of a XB. Note the gold scales on the top. Only XB have gold scales on the top.

Given that there are no golden crossback arowanas in Pahang, then where did they come from? The answer lies in the Bukit Merah Lake located in Perak. Golden crossback arowanas are known to be found in this lake.

According to D24...

Historically, gold is associated with royalty. In the 1970s, the Sultan of Malaysia was from Pahang. As a sign of respect, all gold arowanas exported from Malaysia were termed Pahang Gold. This differentiates the golden crossbacks from the red tail gold arowanas. Thus, there began a long urban legend that Pahang Gold refers to top grade golden crossback arowanas when in fact all golden crossback arowanas originated from Bukit Merah Lake.

A beautiful mature Golden Crossback Arowana