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most of the back issues of fish mags (mid 80s to 90s) i have been reading for the past few days warn of the impending doom of wild caught aquarium fish.

are the easily bred species still swimming around in its native waters? i seem to recall white clouds and red tailed sharks only exist in our fish tanks. any others?

are butterflies, elephant nose, hillstream loaches, etc. still maintaining viable breeding populations in the wild? one of the mags claimed clown loaches were in no danger (1988) due to strict harvesting numbers and fish length restrictions. is this still true? at what point would their rarity command outrageous prices?

buying a school of zebra danios for under $5 is great. anyone think these (or any other easily bred) fish will be used for re-introduction into the wild in our lifetime?

I've been told Cherry Barbs are now endangered in the wild. Sigh ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Another thing to consider is there are many fish, such as clown loaches many salt water fish, etc etc etc that have not been successfully bred in captivity and therefore must be wild-caught to meet the demand of aquarium hobbyists. I do know that there are efforts to try to breed some of these fish in captivty, so their natural habitats aren't harmed as much. Here's one example:

http://www.umainetoday.umaine.edu/Issues/v4i1/aquaculture.html

I've heard that Bosemanni Rainbow fish were always rather uncommon in the wild, but until they were successfully bred in captivity, their numbers were extremely low. Apparently, though, they are making a come back.

Joe Potato

I firmly believe pond breeding would reduce the demand on alot of wild caught except wild caught is prob cheaper for the stores to buy. (And more expensive for us)

The Amazon Nut...

I can't think of any fish that are extinct in the wild but are popular aquarium fish, however there a few species of fish that are aquarium fish but endangered in the wild. In freshwater, many are captive bred, such as the Australian Lungfish (love that fish!), but in saltwater, very few of them are. Recently, the IBAMA of Brazil has started considering banning the export of Zebra Plecs and Pearl Rays. It'll be a darn shame since now I won't be able to get my hands on them for years to come, if such a ban actually lifts.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.