favourite fish

I personally didn't immediately reply to this thread as I sort of thought it would be impossible for me to constrain my choices...I rather like all fish, with the possible exception of the Rift Valley Cichlids - I know, this will not go down too well, but this is all about personal preferences isn't it? I'm also not very fond of 'manufactured fish' like those dreadful parrot fish (not the true Parrot Cichlid, those are quite nice), Balloon Mollies, Rams etc. But this is about fish we like - perhaps there should also be a thread telling which fish we don't like too!
After keeping fish on and off for the better part of half a century it becomes very hard to state preferences. There was a time when I was totally gone on Oscars (or Marbled Cichlids as they were known then) at school, where the other lads had either pop star or pin-up photos on the inside of their desk lids I had a photograph, by Laurence E. Perkins, of three Oscars...I took some 'ribbing' over that, I can assure you! Other Cichlids I've had a soft spot for down the years have been Brown Acaras (Portalegrensis) - the first Cichlid which I ever bred - Angel Fish, a life long favourite, there was even a time when I was totally smitten by Discus, but in a time when they were all wild-caught and not the manufactured creations we see now!
I have great memories of Egyptian Mouthbreeders, there was a time when these were the only readily available Cichlid from Africa, I found it fascinating that a female fish would exercise such protection over her brood. In later times I liked the 'Haplochromis' Nyerie (I think that was the name, it has long since been moved from the Hap genus to something beginning with 'P'). I'd best be careful here - the last two mentioned were African Cichlids! But - to be fair - neither, to the best of my knowledge, comes from the Rift Valley - the latter being from Lake Victoria.
I'm probably waffling on a bit here but will just add my passion for many, if not all, of the Apistogrammas - we used to know the Rams as part of those back then...at a time when they weren't the feeble short lived things we get now - oh for a group of Wild-caught Rams, I was promised some but sadly they never materialised.
I never really kept very many Tetras and would find it hard to list any I was really keen on - apart, perhaps, from Congo Tetras.
Barbs, I used to prefer the larger ones - especially the likes of the Clown, Spanner and Aralius (I must have like these - cant even remember how to spell their name!!!) Barbs, although at different times I also liked the Cherry, Chequer and even Tiger Barbs.
The Tiger Scat was always a very firm favourite for me, as well as the Figure of Eight Puffer and the Archer Fish too.
In early times the only Rainbow Fish were the Australian Rainbows, then the Madagascars came along - back then I liked both, still do - along with more modern imports like the Praecox, Boesmani and Parkinsoni as well as the lovely and delicate Threadfins.
Killies - for me the one which stands out in my memory was the Aphoysemion Australe Lyretail - the first Killies I ever saw, liked them so much I was bought a pair as a birthday present, these actually bred but sadly none of the eggs ever hatched. Again, later on I enjoy keeping the Sjoestedti (Blue Gularis) and some of the others too - I'm trying to get some more Australes now, perhaps - with the benefit of softer water now - I'll be luckier in breeding them this time around!
I like quite a lot of Loaches, but probably my favourite must be the Clown Loach, almost everybody's favourite, I'd guess?
Catfish - where to start? I like most of the Corys, but especially the Weitzmani, C121, Sterbai, Paleatus, Pandas and Adolfoi...not forgetting the Scleriomystax Barbatus - although I've never had too much luck with these.
Well, that's put down a very small part of my favourite fish list, sorry to have 'gone on' a bit, but as I said from the outset - after around half a century of fish keeping it's almost impossible to make a definitive list.
John