Banggai

[florida joe]

Had a conversation with my LFS owner yesterday and he informed me that Banggai cardinals are now a protected species due to over capturing and bacteria out break that is cutting heavily into their numbers. Anyone else hear anything about this

 

[bioneck47]

Overcaptured? These are like the easiest fish to breed in captivity, I doubt their over captured. I've never heard of this...

 

[tvwong]

Yes it is a big debate over this fish. While most fish have a pelagic larval stage that aids in their dispersal around the ocean and to nearby islands. the Bengaii cardinal fish completely circumvents this by mouth-brooding. As a result they are found on a Bengaii island and a few other islands. Despite being one of the easiest fish to breed once acclimated, many simply find that its cheaper just to collect them from the wild. it doesn't surprise me if they are now protected.

 

[t316]

He wasn't just trying to sell you something else, since he was out of Bangs at the moment

 

[t316]

Joe, you gone to sleep???

 

[srfisher17]

This fish has a very limited range, is easy to catch, has a very low reproductive rate (its a mouthbrooder), and became very much in demand overnight. All of this led to a real threat to the native population. Very few fish have these traits, so they can stand significant capture rates with very little (if any) effect on their numbers in the wild. It is one fish that will certainly benefit from aquaculture. BTW, many fish, both FW & SW are cheaper to capture than to breed. When is the last time anyone saw home-grown damsels?

 

[rcoultas]

There was a proposal to add them to the protected list but it was rejected - no CITES certs are required to import Banghaii - the debate still goes on.