CORAL BONUS: Geographic Variants Within Clownfishes – Maroons, Ocellaris & Perculas – (Part 6b)
Matt Pedersen illustrates 3 biogeographic populations of Maroon Clownfish, as well as investigating the variations (or lack thereof) within the Ocellaris/Percula species complex.
PNG Sustainably Collected Livestock Arrives
On Saturday, July 14th, the first North American shipment of sustainably collected marine aquarium animals from EcoAquariums Papua New Guinea (PNG), Ltd. arrived in the United States. This marks the first opportunity since North American aquarists rallied around the new PNG aquarium fishery in late summer 2010 that sustainably collected animals from PNG will be widely available to Americans.
A New Frontier for Marine Livestock Collection
Meme Purgatorio, packing and screening supervisor for the Papua New Guinea SEASMART Program, holds up a plastic cup containing a small Xenojulis species of wrasse. I can see Meme’s broad smile refracted through the seawater in the clear cup. “We call it the Gold Nugget Wrasse,” he says. The fish glimmers as sunlight streaming into the warehouse dances off a mosaic of colorful swirls and blotches. “It’s beautiful,” I say. “Where was it collected?” Purgatorio puts the cupped fish back in the holding system. “Taurama Village,” Meme says. “About an hour from here.”
The Man Who Caught Lightning
Steven caught the famous Lightning Maroon Clownfish in 2010, which is now in the care of Matt Pedersen in the USA. He says he knows where more Lightnings are, he just hasn’t gotten around to catching more of them for us yet…
Sandhi 善迪 says:
Amazing spot. I love this part of knowledge: "Every small, free square inch is quickly occupied by Xeniidae corals. But, they seem to serve a very important function, preparing the substrate, and binding every piece of coral rubble together so sponges and coralline algae can finish the job by cementing everything up. Thus, later, coral larvae can settle on this newly stabilized real estate." Thank you, VincentNew Ocean-Inspired Designs from Walt Smith says:
[…] over 5 years ago, at the tail end of 2017, Fiji’s government unilaterally banned coral exports, leaving WSI with nothing more than fish and invertebrates to send to customers around the globe. […]CORAL New Issue “FREE THE FISHES” Inside Look says:
[…] of Contents for the May/June 2023 issue of CORAL Magazine. You can view this TOC online. “Is keeping a marine aquarium morally right? Is it ethically correct? Is it something we can […]Jon Gordon says:
Please sign this to support common sense rules in Florida. Ask Fish and Wildlife not to use an ill-advised whitelist of animals that can be kept. All you need to do is add your name to the following statement, "A viable option I support would be a list of prohibited species, which would be a much smaller, manageable and enforceable list than one that attempts to encompass all allowed species. " https://petadvocacy.org/advocacy-campaigns?vvsrc=%2FPetitions%2F3902%2FRespondBryce David says:
To whom it may concern, A whitelist approach to regulating which species are legally allowed to be obtained and traded will decimate fish farms and pet stores. This is not a well thought out approach for combating invasive species release into ecosystems. Best Management Practices have already made inroads on preventing the release of foreign invader species. I suggest a review of those practices and amend them if they are deemed to be insufficient. Sincerely, Bryce DavidEdward Moats says:
I urge you to consider the ramifications of losing a 172 million dollar industry in your state. I completely support the black list and agree that invasive species is a big concern. However , I feel that this bill is over reaching and will have a negative impact not only On the industry , but to Florida’s economy.