common fish, that are gone from the hobby today???

[Innesfan]

That critter looks very similar to my 3 year old wc female l. araguaiae in breeding dress; though the lateral line is a bit different and i guess they are a little smaller.

Well, the Port, Cichlasoma portalegrense, and all the Laetacaras were once in the same genus, Aequidens, and are all still considered 'acaras.' The Port has been shuffled back and forth between Cichlasoma and Aequidens for over a century, finally landing in Cichlasoma while the smaller acaras were split off into Laetacara. And yes, a mature Port is very metallic green. In life even more so.

@Back in the fold: Yes, the quality of all 19 of the Innes editions is unparalleled. Quite sad that when the copyright expired that Metaframe produced an edition that was cheaper in every way, though they at least preserved the text. Axelrod then made things worse by producing his own cheap edition which tampered with the text and replaced many of the images, mostly with his own of course. Another example of Axelrod's Innes-envy, which was pathological.

 

[GaryE]

I like the idea of a good brick and mortar aquarium store, but my definition of "good" may be different from yours. The fish selection is important, but if the shop is run to create a community, it is a gem.
There is a myth out there that we are radically different depending on our generations. I don't think that's necessarily true. We are social, gregarious creatures, even when we're introverts like I am. If we weren't, there would be no bars, cafes, churches, mosques, synagogues, sports teams etc. We want to share experiences and energy with other people, even if we half hate them.
We have a good store in my you can barely call it a city city. The fish selection is awful. But a community has built around it, a fish club came out of that community, and people are sharing a lot of valued info in there. I know if I hop in the car and drive there, I will meet people to chat about fish with. The owner is a young guy who is tolerant, curious and believes in his community. He's creating a fishkeeping scene. A good store does that.
I see old movies where there were other drop in community places. True, we have 3000 Facebook members and 40 or so who get off their duffs and talk to each other face to face. The self imposed isolation of tech is real, but it can be ignored.

We stop seeing species because we don't ask for them. We don't know how to ask, because the structure of the internet goes against random exploration and pulls us to specific questions. You have to know what to ask for, rather than what you had with a good fishbook. You could put it in your bathroom if you wanted, and read it bit by bit, but you saw thins you didn't know you wanted information on. Almost all my interests in fish came from second hand bookstores, with little books of various fish launching quests.

The fish importation business is increasingly centralized, so choices are made by one or two purchasers. 10 years ago, there were 4 major importers in my old city. Now, there's one - very large, very boring. Stores used to demand stuff, but chain stores follow programs. The independent stores here go through the tortures of the damned just to get bread and butter fish.

Online can be great, but shipping costs will rise. In places with the population density of the US or UK, it'll work well. Australia and Canada? Less so. The standard rate for one small box of fish from the nearest large city via UPS or Fed Ex is over $170 CAD for me.

 

[Magnum Man]

when I got into fish as an adult ( I had them as a kid ) we had an excellent local store, a young guy, had a 40-50 tank shop, on the main drag, and he was smart enough, to get to know his main customers, of which I was one... I liked unusual fish, back then as well, he knew that, and probably devoted between half and 3/4 of his tanks, to the unusual... doing so garnered him a portion of my weekly check just about every week... he ended up selling me tanks, supplies, and fish...
I took a break from fish keeping, and 3 years ago, I began restarting the tanks I had originally bought out of that small shop... 30 years, is a long time, and now gone are any local sources of livestock, even Walmart quit handling fish ( there were several other department stores that also sold fish back then ), now nothing... I did find a dog grooming store, 20 miles away, that maybe has 20 tanks, of bread and butter fish, small tanks, and a community filter, so they are always struggling with fish health... I rarely buy fish there, because of that, but they do sell a goodly amount of supplies, and try to keep some frozen fish foods, that share a freezer with frozen mice, as snake food...

 

[Back in the fold]

Well, the Port, Cichlasoma portalegrense, and all the Laetacaras were once in the same genus, Aequidens, and are all still considered 'acaras.' The Port has been shuffled back and forth between Cichlasoma and Aequidens for over a century, finally landing in Cichlasoma while the smaller acaras were split off into Laetacara. And yes, a mature Port is very metallic green. In life even more so.

@Back in the fold: Yes, the quality of all 19 of the Innes editions is unparalleled. Quite sad that when the copyright expired that Metaframe produced an edition that was cheaper in every way, though they at least preserved the text. Axelrod then made things worse by producing his own cheap edition which tampered with the text and replaced many of the images, mostly with his own of course. Another example of Axelrod's Innes-envy, which was pathological.

I also have the Axelrod version which , as you correctly noted , is a cheap imitation of a cheap imitation . That’s the one I keep in the fishroom in case I accidentally spill something on it . If I’m right it’s a direct copy of Innes’ first edition as it does not have the Hyphessobrycon innesi Neon Tetra in it because that fish didn’t come into the hobby until after the first edition was already published . I love Dr. Innes’ introduction in that cheap knockoff copy . I wonder if HRA ever picked up on the subtlety of what is actually an insult to him .

 

[Back in the fold]

Trichogaster labiosa are out there alright, but they’re always the line-bred red variety, usually sold as “Red Robin Gouramis” or “Red Honey Gouramis”. People buy them thinking that they’re T. chuna and are always surprised by how large they get.

This I did not know . There’s a different variety of T . labiosa ? If people think they’re a Honey Chuna they definitely are in for a BIG surprise .

 

[anewbie]

We stop seeing species because we don't ask for them.

This is a little misleading; the average buyer (esp brick store) are idiots who want the latest glow fish or african ; so even when a few more experience people ask for something excotic the local market size can't support it. Of course different regions are different but generally speaking these stores have become a business and they compete against bulk purchases that the chain store generate. When i was a kid things were very different (of course the econimics were also different). Store were run by hobbyist, the number of people who purchased fishes was lower (once you got past the gold fish and betta); and they were more interesting in learning about the hobby.

 

[GaryE]

I don't know. When I was an average idiot (I'm now an extraordinary and special one) I still sought fish. I had those books that were like catalogues, and I would see fish in them I'd watch for. I'd check in with my neighbourhood aquarium store (right close to the second best bagel bakery) and occasional ask directly if his supplier could get something he didn't carry. Sometimes, they could.

Imagine a website where you had 1000+ separate files. You could go to tetras and they'd be grouped there. Finish checking one, and you could click to the next - a good picture and all the info we'd want. You could work your way through Seriously Fish type pages without needing to know what you were looking for. It wouldn't give you on demand info. It would stick you in a loop of learning.

I know, an online Baensch Atlas you could spend hours of dead time reading and rereading - just made for airports and dentist's offices. You would discover things you wanted to explore.

When I say "we don't ask for things", the we is the hobby in general. I wasn't being literal. It has become harder than it was to learn what to ask for. Once commercial AI starts thinking for us, whether we like it or not, self directed learning about fish is going to get even harder. We're steered and directed, and that makes us ill informed 'consumers'.

And I thought the internet would lead to more freedom and easier learning...

 

[Innesfan]

If I’m right it’s a direct copy of Innes’ first edition as it does not have the Hyphessobrycon innesi Neon Tetra in it because that fish didn’t come into the hobby until after the first edition was already published .

Oh, I think there's another reason why Axelrod chose to reprint an edition that did not include a fish named INNESI that was widely dubbed at the time "the most beautiful aquarium fish."

There are three Axelrod editions. Yours is the quasi-reprint of the first edition. Then there are two others one being a "21st edition" which is a real abomination.

I love Dr. Innes’ introduction in that cheap knockoff copy . I wonder if HRA ever picked up on the subtlety of what is actually an insult to him .

I doubt it. It was a masterful bit of shade-throwing.