A Chinese businessman has paid $US38,000 ($36,800) for a rare golden snapper in the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong, a leading fish trader said.

The unidentified Chinese businessman from Hong Kong bought the 37-kilogram fish "for its tasty bladder and succulent flesh", said Jahangir Saudagar, who sold the fish.

Mr Saudagar, who works at the Fishery Ghat market near Chittagong port, had bought the snapper from fishermen returning from the Bay of Bengal late on Wednesday.

He purchased the fish at an auction, beating out at least 500 other traders.

"I continued to bid until everyone else gave up because I knew I could sell this fish at (a high) price," he said.

"In the end, I sold it for 3.05 million taka ($US38,000)."

Zoology professor Noman Siddiqui of the Marine Fisheries Academy in Chittagong said the golden colour of the snapper - usually red or silver - was the reason it commanded a high price.

Only "three or four golden snappers are caught in the Bay of Bengal" every year, Mr Siddiqui said.

In some Asian cultures, snapper meat is considered a delicacy.

AFP