Keeping Vulnerable Species as Pets

Hello everyone

So i decided a while ago that I want to get pea puffers for my 30L tank, as soon it'll be standing empty, but then today a guy at a small pet shop told me they're actually on the vulnerable list as they're heavily over-fished for the aquarium trade (and habitat loss is also a factor) so I went home and googled this and found it's true, they are indeed a vulnerable species.
I just wanted to share this with everyone, but also wanted to ask what other fish are there in this hobby that are being caught in the wild and as a result are vulnerable or endangered? Would be interesting to know as many sites that give info on how to keep fish don't seem to ever mention these things...

 

Great thread, will be following

 

And from this thread we can come together and try and breed endangered species since here is a lot of talented guys with great experience

 

That would actually be an amazing initiative! And I've read about some species of animals (not necessarily fish, in fact I think it was the axolotl) where the only reason the species is still around at all is because of the pet trade breeding them where habit loss and pollution wiped them out in the wild!

 

I believe that's true for White Cloud Mountain Minnows too. They only exist in the fishkeeping hobby. I've heard rumours that they've found some wild ones, but I don't know how true it is.

 

The Asian Arowana is one of the top specie on the Red list of endangered let alone vulnerable species, you need CITIES Certificate and they chipped, to bring it in.

So are freshwater stingrays, they are banned from being caught in the wild, with hefty fines if you caught trading in wild caught specimens.
Fortunately both species are being captive bred by the thousands for the Aquarium market and that's taken the pressure off a it of wild caught specimens.

The Datnoid same.. also mostly wild caught and becoming vulnerable
They say there is one or two breeders now but no one has actually posted evidence of the breeding farms

 

@WernerP I didn't realise that. Maybe the ones they thought they saw in the wild were actually pets that were released..

@MariaS are all of yours then from others who bred them? Like how you breed them and then sell to others?

 

Endler Guppies are extinct in the wild.
Otos are massively overfished.
Angels and discus are being unsustainably removed.

If anyone if breeding pea puffers please let me know, I would love to get some!

 

Yes, they are all from overseas breeders

 

Axolotl is on the brink of being extinct in the wild, but the pet trade, home aquariums and research fasilities houses thousands of them.

 

I think currently mostly all puffer fish available in the country are wild caught. I haven't heard of anyone locally that has been breeding the other species except for some pea puffer.

 

Axolotls are amazing creatures. Get to see them at my campus. They have been breeding them for research. Too bad they are blacklisted.

 

I am keeping and breeding sawbwa resplendens and danio erythromicron - both from lake Inle in Myanmar. The lake is being polluted from unsustainable farming practices. Both species on the endangered list. Then I am also breeding celestial pearl danios. Rumor has it that these are endangered but I am not so sure. Also from Myanmar

 

Since axolotls prefer cooler water tempretures how would they survive in SA in lets say a river or dam ? Never mind all the pollution .

 

I have been doing some reading on the pea puffers, been thinking I should try a breeding setup for these guys for some time now, well...maybe a good time to make a move, I was just given a small 40lt tank its a start, a male and 2 or 3 females, some plants...

 

They probably wouldn't survive here, which is most likely why we don't have any indigenous species.. Or do we?

That would be awesome! To our have a lot of support from everyone here too I'm sure!

 

So why are they blacklisted ? Pretty sure a corn snake will survive here and they are not black listed.

 

Nearly extinct in the wild and its an amphibian. I think most amphibians are blacklisted.