Fish Conservation

Conservation of the Asian Arawana

The Asian Arawana, Scleropages formosus, is endangered, mainly due to habitat destruction. It is listed under CITES Appendix 1, which means that trading this species across national boundaries is illegal unless the individual fish are captive bred. The Asian Arawana is captive bred in Kalimantan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
Unfortunately, it is also illegally wild caught [...]

The Walking Catfish (Clarias batrachus): Pet, Food Fish, and Invasive Pest

The Walking Catfish, Clarias batrachus, is a very large catfish sometimes seen in the aquarium trade. It is also used as a food fish. It is native to Southeastern Asia, but it has been introduced to numerous other places where it has become an invasive and predatory pest. Once in an area, it is [...]

The Fish, the Forest and the Future: how climate change and deforestation in the Amazon are harming our fish

Many popular aquarium fishes come from the Amazon Basin. These fish include tetras, corydoras catfishes, suckermouth catfishes, dwarf cichlids, discus, piranhas and many others. Some of these species arrive in our fish tanks after being captive bred in many places around the world, but many others are wild caught and some are new imports that [...]

Conservation Status of the Black Ruby Barb, Puntius nigrofasciatus

This small barb comes originally from Sri Lanka and is a popular fish in the aquarium hobby. It is designated as low vulnerability conservation dependent by the IUCN, which means that there are some conservation programs in place to protect it without which it would be considered vulnerable (Pethiyagoda, 1996). There are some indications that [...]

Conservation Status of the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

The Guppy is an extremely common fish in the aquarium trade, and is not considered vulnerable in the wild (Fishbase.org). They originally come from South America and the Caribbean: Venezuela, Barbados, Trinidad, northern Brazil and the Guyanas (Fishbase.org), but the guppies seen in pet shops are captive bred. The vast majority of guppies seen in the trade [...]

Aquarium Fish as Invasive Species

Unfortunately, a number of ornamental fish have become invasive species in various areas of the world. This means that they are living and breeding successfully in areas where their species did not evolve. Species that have become invasive include guppies, gambusia, white cloud mountain minnows, swordtails, walking catfish, goldfish, and oscars. In some cases, invasive [...]

Conservation Initiatives: Project Piaba

 Project Piaba is sited in Barcelos, Brazil. It has multiple aims, the main ones being to learn more about the status of fishes and the ornamental fish trade in the area, prevent overexploitation, preserve fish habitat, and improve the lives of local collectors. The main fish exported from this area is the Cardinal Tetra, which [...]