>Aquarists are not granted permits to keep species listed under the ESA. There
>are several good reasons for this, one being that they want to prevent people
>taking matters into their own hands. Misinformed, but well intentioned
>actions can do significant harm under certain circumstances as has been
>discussed on the NANFA list many times.
We have discussed this subject before some time ago concerning M.
eachamensis in Australia. The status of eachamensis is an on-going saga with
no end in sight. We have a number of endangered species in Australia and my
particular interest as Peter is well aware is mainly rainbowfishes. However,
of interest is the Desert gobies and red-finned blue-eyes found in
Queensland. The goby (Chlamydogobius squamigenus) and blue-eye
(Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis) from Edgbaston seem to be holding their
own without any particular help from the responsible environment departments.
However, the situation of the Elizabeth Springs goby (Chlamydogobius
micropterus) is not so good if the reports I've heard is correct that their
habitat is degrading rapidly. Also I obtained some wild caught specimens of
this species last year and they were grossly infected with what I believe
was the fungi Achlya (all died within a few days). I was told that the wild
population was also infected. This fungus if not controlled properly can
devastate a population very quickly.
But to get to the main point of my writing is that none of these species are
held in captivity except for my population of red-finned blue-eyes which is
now (at last check) the only captive population in existence. There are no
captive aquarium populations of the 2 gobies as far as I know and there
doesn't seem to be any interest by Zoos etc in Australia to maintain them.
If for any reason the situation gets worse in these habitats we could very
well see these species become extinct and the only specimens left would be
any that are being maintained by aquarium hobbyists at that time (deja vu
eachamensis).
We now have another rainbowfish reported as extinct in the wild (G.
wanamensis) from Lake Wanam in PNG. However, it looks like the Melbourne Zoo
has taken an interest in this species and is beginning a captive-breeding
program. Just as well they were being maintained by aquarium hobbyists!.
Also of note is that under the Queensland Nature Conservation Regulations
1994, permission or licence is NOT required for keeping the following
endangered or vulnerable species in captivity:
Elizabeth Springs Goby (Chlamydogobius micropterus)
Edgbaston Goby (Chlamydogobius squamigenus)
Red-finned Blue-eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis)
Oxleyan Pygmy Perch (Nannoperca oxleyana)
Honey blue-eye (Pseudomugil mellis)
Regards,
Adrian.
Adrian R. Tappin
"Home of the Rainbowfish"
http://www.ecn.net.au/~atappin/home.htm