Nano Gobies

tion and “much needed” dams that were built without
regard for the impact they would have on fish. (IUCN
has tempered the wording, and now lists the likely cause
as “habitat modification.”) It appears that the Redtail
Shark is a victim of human population growth and is
being saved only because we happen to find it attractive.
Another ubiquitous species, the White Cloud
Mountain Minnow (Tanichthys albonubes), is listed
Redtail Shark,
Epalzeorhynchos
bicolor
Endler’s Livebearer, Poecilia wingei:
both of these species are being preserved by aquarium breeding.
on the IUCN Red List—currently as “data deficient”
but formerly as “extinct in the wild,” according to the
C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program’s citation of its IUCN
status. Despite this, it is one of the undisputed best “beginner
fish,” as it is able to thrive in both unheated and
heated aquariums, easy to breed, extremely resilient,
and quite attractive. This species is not going anywhere
as long as people continue to keep aquariums. I would
be genuinely shocked to walk into an aquarium store
and not encounter one of the many flamboyant variants
of the White Cloud now being offered.
Even though I’ve been aware of the plight of Redtail
Sharks and White Cloud Mountain Minnows, I was surprised
to learn that C.A.R.E.S. considers even the commonly
available Boesmani Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia
boesemani), endemic to only three lakes in Irian Jaya,
Indonesia, to be either at risk or endangered in the wild
(the IUCN lists it as endangered). Even so, I could have
a guilt-free colony of Boesmani Rainbowfish at my doorstep
within a week’s time. This is all possible because of
captive propagation.
DOMESTICATION HAPPENS
Other species are not so lucky. The livebearers are a
group of very popular aquarium fishes that are farmed
in large numbers. However, many of the swordtails and
platies and guppies that we see in every shop are not
what we think they are.
The great majority of them are domesticated forms
that have been selectively bred for decades—a hybrid
cocktail of numerous closely related wild species.
To put this in perspective, the average
swordtail or guppy is the equivalent of the
Snow Onyx or Black Photon designer clownfish.
What’s at risk in the livebearer world
isn’t the next Platinum Percula; it’s the good
old original wild forms—the classic Ocellaris
Clownfish from salt water, Endler’s Livebearer
from fresh water, the natural “default” colorations
and forms of species from which all our
domesticated forms were derived.
Just as Ocellaris and Percula Clownfish
have “cousins” that are rare or unpopular in
the trade, so do the livebearers. These cousins
of the guppies and swordtails don’t share the
relative safety offered by commercial popularity.
They are hanging on only because dedicated
aquarists see the value of natural forms
that wouldn’t stand a chance of capturing the
casual hobbyist’s superficial tastes.
Ameca splendens, the Butterfly Goodeid, is
considered extinct in the wild by C.A.R.E.S.,
Fishbase, and the IUCN. However, according
to the Goodeid Working Group, this species
may still persist in one or more isolated remnant
populations—for example, a lone springhead—but
all it takes is one good drought to
dry up the spring. Despite the extremely precarious existence
of the Butterfly Goodeid, you can acquire this
“extinct” livebearer with relative ease. As I write this in
early April 2012, there are three distinct auctions for
this species on Aquabid.com, and the going rate ranges
from $4.33 to $10 per fish (plus shipping).
How is this possible? Quite simply, it’s an attractive
but currently unpopular species of fish, so it isn’t commercially
produced, but a handful of breeders keep it
solely because it would otherwise be lost. It’s amazing to
think that this species persists only because aquarium
keepers no different than you or I value the natural biodiversity
of our planet and are working to sustain it.
Ameca splendens is far from the only species with this
story. Another critically endangered Goodeid, Zoogoneticus
tequila, is available via multiple online auctions; one
seller calls it “one of the rarest fish kept in the hobby,
thought for over 40 years to be extinct in the wild, now
known to be critically endangered.”
Or consider the plight of the Charco La Palma Pupfish
(Cyprinodon longidorsalis). R. Kik, IV tells the story
TOP: TATJANA RITTNER/SHUTTERSTOCK; BOTTOM: DOBERMARANER/SHUTTERSTOCK
38 CORAL