Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

The Multibillion Dollar Tuna Black Market

I've reported the plight of the bluefin tuna a few times, but a new investigative report details the plight of this species that should already have been placed on the endangered species list - and probably would have, except tuna are worth too much money to bother regulating or protecting.

Money talks, and Japan's black market on tuna is worth $2 billion a year alone.  "The fisheries industry is one of the most criminalized in the world", says Daneil Poley of the University of British Columbia.  National fisheries administrations of various countries are a joke: for example, French fisherman undergoing trial all state that their own national fisheries ministry routinely violated their own laws. 

Gulf of Mexico Reef Ecology "Dodged a Bullet" - Mostly

Deepwater reef ecosystems a mere twenty miles from BP's oil leak appear to have "dodged a bullet" according to Steve Ross of the University of North Carolina.  Plankton, anemones, coral. and other invertebrates appear to be alive and well, except for those in the immediate vicinity of the leak. 

The New England Aquarium Explores Fiji

Known to aquarists for their ongoing work in coral flourescence and the Fiji clownfish, the New England Aquarium 'global explorers' team is back at it, researching the remote Fiji reef of Vatu-i-Ra. 

Tank Raised Pinnatus Batfish Sighted!

  

A surprsing and welcome new addition into the hobby today are tank raised Pinnatus Batfish.  Like mandarins, they are another of the beautiful species known to have low survival rates, and these tank raised fish will allow knowledged hobbyists to add a beautiful new tankmate.  On an important note however, these new captive raised arrivals are only 3" tall, it's important to keep them in a system that can adequately handle their adult height of 18".

Marine Fish Survival: Discussing Coral Magazine's Poll

I occasionally write content and polls for Coral Magazine's web portal, and couldn't help but notice the results of a poll the magazine took of the survival rates of fish in the care of it's readers.  One can see instantly from the responses that the sample size is atypical of our hobby, as are the results.  Additionally, assuming the results are accurate protrayals of reader's success rates (and they probably are, more or less) one can see how successful aquarists can easily forget, or not even know about the very high mortality rates that are the norm in our hobby.

 

Sustainable Aquatics Now Offering Tank Raised Angelfish

As their Sustainable Islands project progresses, our favorite aquaculture company continues to offer more and more tank-raised species available to hobbyists.  This week Sustainable Aquatics announced limited availability of tank-raised Queen Angelfish and Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris and Holacanthus isabelita, respectively).  Both species are available at 2-3" in size at very respectable prices to dealers. 

Is this really a ‘Dark Hobby’?

Editor's Note: this post introduces Dr. Neale Monks, who should be no stranger to anyone in our community with his many excellent aquatics book and magazine publications!

I have read with interest Robert Wintner's piece on the possible overfishing of reef fish by the aquarium industry as well as Bob Fenner's response  on the Coral Magazine web site. Although both gentlemen make valid points, both have oversimplified the situation in terms of biology, and in doing so, some of the shades of grey between their positions may be lost.

NOAA's Virgin Islands Queen Conch Research

My naturalist friend Lauren just got back from performing research on queen conchs in St. Coix, the US Virgin Islands for NOAA, and sent over some pics for me to post!  The conchs are being radio tagged and their migration patterns are being tracked.  The queen conch's numbers are on the decline due to overharvesting for their meat and shells.  Check out the rest of the pics (and captions) below!

 

Symbiotic Relationships in Saltwater Aquariums, Part I

There is nothing more rewarding that recreating nature in every detailed aspect in a home aquarium, or at least to the extent that it can or should be done.  It is an extremely exciting experience, witnessing something twenty years ago was thought to be impossible: the symbiotic relationship of various marine organisms.  While this could be said about captive breeding, certain fish, or any number of marine topics, I am referring to Symbiotic Relationships.  I have had the privilege to be the witness of two completely different symbiotic relationships in my Nano Reef tank.

The Smithsonian Grows Two Anemone Species from Larvae!

The Smithsonian Museum's Invertebrate Exhibit has succesfully sexually propagated Urticina anemones!  Unlike 'splitting' or 'fragging', the sexual propagation involves the fertilization of gametes and the successful growout of the anemone from larvae stage to adult stage, something that's much more difficult to do.  I performed some research at A&M University that involved the study of Metridium anemone larvae, and let me tell you that raising them to adulthood hasn't been done!  From the Smithsonian: