Researcher trying to breed tropical fish

[cheeks69]

Saw this at RF:

Jeri Fox is raising a pair of foxface rabbitfish in a tank in a basement lab at the university. The fish are distinctive with bright yellow fins, bulging eyes and puckered lips.

"The aquarium trade will continue. It's not going to stop," Fox said. "So we want to supply it with fish that are raised, not destructively removed from the wild......But only a small percentage of the roughly 1,500 tropical fish species traded worldwide have been bred successfully in captivity, and the foxface rabbitfish is not among them....

A key reason is the fish's small size, only about two millimeters at spawning. The fish's mouth is no more than half a millimeter wide, making it difficult to provide appropriate food.

"

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Tropical Fish

 

[Woodstock]

Good to hear Robert. Thanks!

 

[corvettephreek]

how about captive bred moorish idols? nice find cheeks!!!

 

[Gina]

The process can be painstaking, and some scientists have been trying to breed the same species for 15 years, said Fox.

That's a long time to try and breed a fish successfully! Good for them for keeping at it!

Nice article Robert! Thanks!

 

[Rougiem]

Thanks for sharing! We have still much to learn, but that is also a good thing! I hope it gets to the point where most of the livestock you buy can be tank bred!

Cheers!

 

[Yarr]

some things are just never meant to be 'made' in captivity. that is what makes the ocean and every living thing in it so much better. On the other side of the coin though it is concerning that it is the only place we can find things like this and have to exploit it.

Thats it! everyone tear down their tanks in protest!

 

[Woodstock]

Purchasing captive bred fishes is the way to go for sure. My ocellaris pair are captive bred and I am waiting for Elmo's captive bred bangaii cardinals to mature so I can get a few