Rare Fish Released Into The Wild

[The-Wolf]

A giant Myxocyprinus asiaticus Chinese High Fin Banded Shark is released to be free into the Jialing River by local fishing control workers and the fisherman who netted the rare fish in Langzhong, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 8, 2007.

story here (not much more than I said anyways)
http/english.people.com.cn/200705/10/eng...510_373479.html

this is what most people think of when hearing Chinese High Fin Banded Shark

picture hotlinked from aquabase.org
you can now understand why it is illegal to keep these fish here in the UK

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you can now understand why it is illegal to keep these fish here in the UK

i don't! lol

 

[The-Wolf]

because they can survive our winters when released into our rivers.
they will also decimate the ecosystem but eating all the vegitation,
which in turn has an adverse effect on native insects, invertibrates, fish etc.

 

[dwarfgourami]

right...yeesss... I get your point. Not one for my nano project that.

It's an unexpected colour- do they grow like that in old age or is it just a different colour morph?

 

[The-Wolf]

AFAIK that is a natural colour change from juvinile to adult

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Isn't the Jialing River (where this fish has been released) supposed to be horribly polluted like most of the rest of China's river systems?

""Sixteen million tones of domestic waste water and one million tonnes of industrial waste water flow from the Qingshuixi into the Jialing River annually";

http/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4462574.stm

Great...They released a protected species of fish in a river whose water is not fit for even spraying on the feilds ...

 

[wendywc]

AFAIK that is a natural colour change from juvinile to adult

Wow, that is amazing colors for the adult.

 

[rdd1952]

It's amazing not only that their color (and banding) takes such a dramatic change but that their body shape does too.

 

[Matty P]

Wow, that has great colours!

 

[Danno]

I believe you can own them in the US.

EDIT:

You can
Click here

 

[The-Wolf]

It's amazing not only that their color (and banding) takes such a dramatic change but that their body shape does too.

so very true
here is how they change over time

juvie (4")

adolescent (20")

adult (40")

images hotlinked from http/www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums...xocyprinus.html

 

[three-fingers]

Woah, I never knew they changed so much as they grew older!

They are very nice when they are young, Takashi Amano even used them in one of his scapes, but as cool as that adult looks it's not really as pretty as he juveniles.
I remember I used to always see them in the shops, but the guy said they were too big for my tank so I coudent get them.
Mind, this guy went on to sell me a sailfin plec 10 minuets later .

 

[rdd1952]

Wolf, that's the same site I Googled. I couldn't believe they were the same fish until I saw that.

 

[severum boy]

Sweet, I always thought they reached adult colour at their maximum size of about 14-20", but I am proved wrong on both accounts.
I remember seeing a pair for sale a couple of years ago for about £35 each. Then a while after, I saw one for sale on ebay for about £20. The seller was saying that this was the last fish to be imported before its importation was stopped.
I would love to buy a house in somewhere where it was legal to keep them and have a couple in a massive pond with carp. A man can dream......

 

[angelmouse]

This is so interesting, lovely fish small or big. That is an amazing change of shape, didn't realise fish could change so much.
Angel