|
The
Endangered Species Act applies only to species within the U.S., and
criteria specified by that
act used to determine the
threatened or endangered status of a species can be applied to some of
the fish found at this site.
Because most of these fish are indigenous to Mexico (though being kept
by fishkeepers in the U.S.)
the terms that hobbyists
use taken from the Endangered Species Act do not carry the legal
consequences that apply to U.S. species covered by the act. Where we
would be restricted from
keeping a U.S. species
that has been listed, Mexico does not involve itself in our keeping fish
indigenous to Mexico. At the same time, those in Mexico trying to
protect or save species facing
extinction benefit and
appreciate
our efforts.
The destruction of natural
habitat through land development in Mexico, particularly when needed
for economic growth, rarely concedes to a species confined to an
isolated area facing destruction,
and efforts to transplant
a declining species following years of evolution at a specific location
are
rarely successful. In fact, there has yet to be a
successful reintroduction of any of these fish back
to the
wild. In an effort to identify the species facing greatest need,
scientists and hobbyists
designate
species as Threatened, Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in
the Wild.
Of course, no one is truly
omniscient and knows whether a species is truly nonexistent. Because of
this, these terms are not used lightly, and are carefully based on
accumulated evidence.
(See current
Goodeid
designations by Dr. John Lyons here)
Never is a term attached
because it was convenient for a researcher, or because genuine diligence
was not followed. Some hobbyists believe that our being able to
determine whether a fish is extinct
is not
possible. Fish do go extinct, and many of the fish on this website are
predicted to soon
disappear. My goal is to assist conservation efforts before that
happens, maintaining some of these
species with other
hobbyists, contributing in my own small way toward their continued
existence.
We can only hope that the scientists and collectors may be
mistaken. But if they are correct,
to do nothing may
guarantee their extinction. Each of the fish to the left are species
have become
extremely rare and nearly if not entirely impossible to find in the
wild. If you breed out these fish,
particularly the Z. tequila, and wish to share your excess
stock with other hobbyists or those interested
in continuing the effort, please email me at
selectaquatics@gmail.com ,
and I may buy some back
from you or connect you to
others that may take them and continue to build their numbers.
Universities routinely
turn to hobbyists for stocks of these fish, and many of the collections
at noted
aquariums and scientific research facilities originally came
from hobbyists. As an example, I have
been honored to provide many of the fish offered at this site
to a noted university here in Colorado,
where they have been used for mate selection and genetic
geographic studies to better determine
species evolution and development. Unfortunately, with very
few exceptions, each of the factors
contributing to the declines of these species were as a
result of man's influence. Though we
personally have had nothing to do with the actions that
created the situation these species are in,
we can still obtain them, reproduce and preserve them to as
close a state to their wild form as the
artificial confines of an aquarium allows. Because of this,
information now being collected
regarding their reproduction, behaviors and possible value to
medical science can continue to be
gathered.
There are not nearly
enough hobbyists today that have chosen to keep these fish, possibly
because
most do not realize that the opportunity exists for them to contribute
to the actual survival of a species.
Do not feel that if you were to try any of these rarer fish that they
may die, and that you should not make
the effort. We all lose
fish. I went through 6 trios of the Z. tequila
over about 3 years before I found this
particularly hardy line
that liked my water and the way the room is run. Today I have sold or
given away
hundreds of them and continue to do so. We share these fish with
others out of trust that whoever
gets them will do their
best to keep the fish doing well, and it is understood that it may take
a few tries
for those who are really serious about keeping them. If you decide to
keep one of the rare or
endangered fish found at
this site, first read what you can in
books you own, the care of
new arrivals in
Receiving Shipped Fish, and
what may be posted on the internet, then set up a tank and call me!
So why can't we
just raise them up and reintroduce them?
This is the question asked most often, and here is the basic answer.
Population decline occurs as
the result of factors that
often cannot be easily reversed. The introduction of a food or sport
fish to a
location currently inhabited by a smaller indigenous species can have
disastrous consequences for
the smaller fish. They do
not posses the defenses or evolutionary adaptations to survive the
predation
or introduced diseases from a non-native species. Often the attempted
reintroduction of a species into
a former habitat requires
the large scale poisoning of an entire body of water to first destroy
everything
else, and even then the efforts have been unsuccessful. In many cases,
due to land development and
other man-made factors
(One is global warming, which is not yet fully understood regarding the
influence it will have on some of these fish), the actual body of water
and conditions they evolved in
may no longer exist.
There are also some species we are just catching a glimpse of that may
not be rare, but are new to
science such as the
"Tiger
Limia".
Many species are rare
or extinct in the wild, yet well represented in the hobby. Chapalichthys
pardalis was offered here- a species that is critically endangered in the
wild, but has become
so widely available in the hobby that
they did not sell, and were dropped. In your local pet shop
the white cloud minnow and the cherry
barb are both highly endangered in the wild, but have
been bred in the commercial hobby such
that they exist today in very large numbers.
But there are a number of livebearer species in real
danger of disappearing, and we
will seek out those desired in the hobby and make every
effort to provide a resource for them
for those who wish to keep them.
Home
Contact Us
Receiving Shipped Fish
Keeping Select
Aquatics Fish
X
|
 |
