Pufferpunk
Fish Crazy
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
- Messages
- 309
- Reaction score
- 0
As far as Fishbase is concerned (Quoted from the great pufferguru, Robert T Ricketts):
Fishbase is a compilation of data from any or all
available data in the scientific literature, but that serves both for
assurance and as a warning. A fish having been found in a survey of this or
that habitat in the massive Tonle Sap has little or nothing to say about
that site being the population center for that particular fish, or a stray
from other habitats, or a fringe population with marginal survival
prospects. The distribution and ecology of these fish has not been studied
widely as they have no economic importance. Reports include them mostly as
found here and there, but they are rarely key species in studies.
Those indigenous groups using tropical fish collection as an income
supplement are not literate populations. Collections tend to be seasonal
(water and weather conditions permitting) and time-available from other
activities. The collected specimens are pooled and later transported to a
"wholesaler" or agent who arranges transport and handling to a population
center or abroad. The paper trail, if any, is not detailed or particularly
accurate. By the time the creature passes through an importer in the States
or elsewhere, the a regional wholesale distributor, then the LFS, it is
highly unlikely to have traceability back to even the country of origin,
much less finer-grained data.
Without some non-trivial economic importance, fieldwork is too expensive to
be supported. What little information we have that is really useful tends
to come from talented individuals, such as Dr. Ebert on puffers, who happens
to have a personal affinity for a group or family of fish, and has made
enough side notes and generated enough personal experience to compile some
publication for hobbyists after years of field work on other topics.
Several individuals have done similar works on Rift Lake fish, Rainbowfish,
etc. Those reports are our only real and valuable ecological source data.
Robert
And:
My personal experience with these fish is that they do best in light
brackish water (~1.005) over aragonite substrates (to support the high pH),
with no exposure to unoxidized metabolites, and minimal exposure to nitrate
(<20ppm). Under such conditions I expect them to live 15-20 years. In FW
conditions I have never had one survive more than a few years, and they have
been subject to chronic or repeated cornea and skin problems. YMMV, but I
would never put one of these fish under my care into FW.
When Dr. Ebert's book came out, one of the things that delighted me most
about it was that this fish, along with the GSP, were both noted as doing
far better in brackish conditions. Both of those observations matched my
own.
I have no way of knowing whether or not the fish we see in the trade are
collected from the inland areas reported on fishbase, or from coastal,
estuarine, or mangrove areas and potentially represent different
populations. My personal experience does not at all agree with the fishbase
report. But then they list the fish as being an algae and plant eater as
well (from stomach contents). Obviously they have missed the experience of
seeing these fish feed in captivity - algae or plant material is ingested
routinely, along with the mollusk or small crustacean feeding on it. So
there they are not incorrect as much as they misunderstand and misinterpret,
or simply have never observed either in the wild or captivity, the dynamics
of feeding for the fish.
Robert
Fishbase is a compilation of data from any or all
available data in the scientific literature, but that serves both for
assurance and as a warning. A fish having been found in a survey of this or
that habitat in the massive Tonle Sap has little or nothing to say about
that site being the population center for that particular fish, or a stray
from other habitats, or a fringe population with marginal survival
prospects. The distribution and ecology of these fish has not been studied
widely as they have no economic importance. Reports include them mostly as
found here and there, but they are rarely key species in studies.
Those indigenous groups using tropical fish collection as an income
supplement are not literate populations. Collections tend to be seasonal
(water and weather conditions permitting) and time-available from other
activities. The collected specimens are pooled and later transported to a
"wholesaler" or agent who arranges transport and handling to a population
center or abroad. The paper trail, if any, is not detailed or particularly
accurate. By the time the creature passes through an importer in the States
or elsewhere, the a regional wholesale distributor, then the LFS, it is
highly unlikely to have traceability back to even the country of origin,
much less finer-grained data.
Without some non-trivial economic importance, fieldwork is too expensive to
be supported. What little information we have that is really useful tends
to come from talented individuals, such as Dr. Ebert on puffers, who happens
to have a personal affinity for a group or family of fish, and has made
enough side notes and generated enough personal experience to compile some
publication for hobbyists after years of field work on other topics.
Several individuals have done similar works on Rift Lake fish, Rainbowfish,
etc. Those reports are our only real and valuable ecological source data.
Robert
And:
My personal experience with these fish is that they do best in light
brackish water (~1.005) over aragonite substrates (to support the high pH),
with no exposure to unoxidized metabolites, and minimal exposure to nitrate
(<20ppm). Under such conditions I expect them to live 15-20 years. In FW
conditions I have never had one survive more than a few years, and they have
been subject to chronic or repeated cornea and skin problems. YMMV, but I
would never put one of these fish under my care into FW.
When Dr. Ebert's book came out, one of the things that delighted me most
about it was that this fish, along with the GSP, were both noted as doing
far better in brackish conditions. Both of those observations matched my
own.
I have no way of knowing whether or not the fish we see in the trade are
collected from the inland areas reported on fishbase, or from coastal,
estuarine, or mangrove areas and potentially represent different
populations. My personal experience does not at all agree with the fishbase
report. But then they list the fish as being an algae and plant eater as
well (from stomach contents). Obviously they have missed the experience of
seeing these fish feed in captivity - algae or plant material is ingested
routinely, along with the mollusk or small crustacean feeding on it. So
there they are not incorrect as much as they misunderstand and misinterpret,
or simply have never observed either in the wild or captivity, the dynamics
of feeding for the fish.
Robert
