Portal:Views of the Day
From Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
Enigmatic moai statues on Easter Island/Rapa Nui. Corbis
Marine Crossroads
On Friday night, my wife and I thought we would go to this little Thai restaurant we love. As we walked into town, we talked over the menu—a great fiery bamboo, fantastic coconut shrimp soup and duck to die for. Because tourists have become an endangered species now that summer in Laguna Beach is over, not to mention the economic downturn, we did not expect to have to wait for a table in the small L-shaped restaurant. Nonetheless, only one table was available in front of the 150-gallonish marine aquarium, which usually houses a small shoal of yellow tangs swimming in and out of copious live rock. As we took our seats, I glanced into the tank... Read more.
The Aquarium Ecologist
Invasive Species Legislation and Your Aquarium
Reports of Indo-Pacific lionfish munching on native fish species off the Atlantic Coast come amid renewed calls for restrictions on the importation of nonnative species.
A proposed new law would adversely affect the importation, breeding and possession of the approximately 10,000 species in the pet trade, including hundreds of aquarium fish and invertebrates.
A key provision of HR6311 directs the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to create and publish a list of wildlife species approved for importation. Thereafter, importation of any species not on the list would be prohibited.
Mutant Clowns - New Hit for the Nemo Crowd
Matt Wittenrich Live
The other day I was visiting a local Florida fish shop and came across some Percula Clownfish. They had been captive-raised by a local aquarist and brought to the fish shop with great pride. As I watched them writhe in a tight group amidst a fake turquoise coral, I started to wonder if there was room in the hobby for such aberrant or mutant fish. Read more...
Other Views
"Think of a giant bluefin as an 800-pound torpedo of sushi — some of the finest, fattiest, most expensive there is. Since the 1970s, when the sushi craze took off, purse-seine haulers and longline fishing boats and fish hunters in spotter planes have chased the giant bluefin across the world’s oceans. They have been ruthlessly efficient: The worldwide bluefin population has plunged more than 90 percent in the last 30 years." —The New York Times, Editorial, 11/17/2007
Banggai Boycott? Bah.
Letter of the Week: "In diving in and around the Banggai Islands for decades, seeing Pterapogon having been intentionally spread widely around Sulawesi (a massive island of some 73,000 square miles), and become resident along much of its shores, I can assure you that this fish is more than plentiful in its previous limited range, as well as where it has been transplanted...Read more...