Of the thousands of marine aquarium fish species traded in the burgeoning aquarium trade, less than 10 percent are bred in captivity. The undesirable practice of collecting marine aquarium fish from the wild results in a high mortality rate of captured organisms, noticeable depletion of less abundant species, and furthermore, the destruction of coral reefs around the world. Fish culture reduces the aquarium trade’s dependency on wild caught organisms.

Cultured pygmy angelfish (Centropyge) hybrids at RCT.

My Research

Commercial propagation of marine ornamentals is not an easy task and is complicated by biological and economical constraints. Many species have not been cultured because of their complex reproductive biology; others can only be raised on an experimental scale; and ...
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Wrasses and angelfish in a collecting bucket.

Collection vs Breeding

Culturing marine ornamentals is a lucrative and environmentally sound alternative to harvesting them from their reef habitat. Unfortunately, the practice still greatly lags the farming of freshwater tropicals because of the biological and economic constraints associated with culturing most species ...
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Aquaculture complex at Bali Aquarich, Indonesia.

Basic Aquaculture Process

Raising marine ornamentals in captivity principally is providing the right nutrition and environment for: Adults to produce quality eggs (Broodtock Care). Larvae to survive (Larval Rearing). Juveniles to grow (Juvenile Grow-out). Ideal culture candidates are species that spawn routinely and ...
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Bumphead parrotfish aggregate off a reef before spawning

Reef Fish Reproduction

Coral reefs are complex and extremely variable ecosystems. Reef fishes have evolved a fascinating and diverse reproductive biology to maximize survival of their offspring in this harsh environment. Generalizations will have to be made to keep this an introduction to ...
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Palette surgeonfish (Paracanthurus hepatus)

Captive-bred Species List

Marine ornamental culture has made considerable progress in recent years. About 330 marine ornamental fish species have been captive-bred as of 2017, up from 170 species in 2000. That's 160 new captive-bred species in 17 years! Raising marine ornamentals is difficult, the degree to ...
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A fish larva (example: longnose butterflyfish).

Glossary

adhesive egg - an egg which adheres on contact to substrate material or other eggs, adhesiveness of entire egg capsule may or may not persist after attachment. benthic - living on the bottom. demersal - bottom oriented; demersal eggs develop on ...
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